Seven Small Inventions that Changed the World

Ages 9 to 11, Grades 4 to 6

Award-winning engineer and bestselling author Roma Agrawal takes us on a spectacular journey through time as she introduces the seven small inventions that built and changed our world forever.

Technology and engineering surround us. From HUGE things, like spaceships and skyscrapers, to much smaller things like the toaster in our kitchen, and the shoes on our feet. But all of these things only exist because of seven small inventions: the nail, the wheel, the spring, the magnet, the lens, the pump, and ... string. And each of these inventions has a fascinating story to tell.

Travel through centuries of history, through ancient Egypt, along the Silk Road, across the high seas, and even into space, and discover how each of these seven small inventions came to be, how they work, and how they changed the world forever. Find out how it's thanks to the potter's wheel that the International Space Station exists, and how the same nails that built pirate ships hold together the tallest buildings in the world.

In this children's illustrated adaptation of her adult book, Nuts and Bolts, award-winning engineer turned bestselling author Roma Agrawal makes STEM accessible, intriguing, and aspirational, and encourages children to be endlessly curious about the 'things' that make up our world.

The book also spotlights inspirational inventors from history, with sections on Josephine Cochran, Gladys West, Norm Mason, George Cayley, Robert Hooke, Rebecca Struthers, Takayanagi Kenjiro, Jagadish Chandra Bose, Ibn al-Haytham, Antony van Leeuwenhoek, Louis Jacques Made Daguerre, Frederick Douglas, Katherine Burr Blodget, Hamai Vyarawalla, John Gibbon, and Mary Hopkinson.

Roma Agrawal is a British-Indian-American award-winning engineer, author and TED speaker who worked on London's iconic Shard skyscraper among many other projects. A tireless promotor of engineering careers for women and BIPOC, she grew up in Ithaca, New York and is a US citizen. She attended Cambridge Ohio elementary school, Immaculate conception school (Ithaca NY), and Cayuga heights elementary school (Ithaca).

About the Author

Roma Agrawal (Author)

Roma Agrawal (MBE) is an award-winning engineer, author and broadcaster. She spent six years working on the Shard, designing its foundations and spire.

She has featured on BBC World News, BBC Daily Politics, The Evening Standard, The Sunday Times, Guardian, Telegraph, Independent, Cosmopolitan and Stylist Magazine. She has even featured as a judge of Lego Masters and is winner of a Royal Academy of Engineering Award, ACE Engineering Excellent Awards, Institute of Structural Engineers Lewis Kent Medal and Young Structural Engineer of the Year, Management Today and Women in Construction awards.

She is a tireless promoter of engineering and technical careers for young people, particularly under-represented groups such as women. She has advised policymakers and governments on science education and has given talks to thousands around the world at universities, schools and organizations, including two for TEDx.

Jisu Choi (Illustrator)

Jisu Choi is an illustrator based in South Korea. Having started studying art from a young age, today she's worked with many clients on a range of products including packaging design and murals. Her first book, Beetles for Breakfast, was shortlisted for the Royal Society's Children's Book Prize.