The lives of twenty composers and musicians, ranging from Vivaldi, Mozart, and Bach to Gershwin, Gilbert & Sullivan, and Woody Guthrie, are profiled in this eclectic, humorous, and informative collection.

Most people can name some famous artists and recognize their best-known works. But what's behind all that painting, drawing, and sculpting? What was Leonardo da Vinci's snack of choice while he painted Mona Lisa's mysterious smile? Why did Georgia O'Keeffe find bones so appealing? Who called Diego Rivera "Frog-Face"? And what is it about artists that makes both their work and their lives so fascinating—to themselves, to their curious neighbors,

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"You might know that Columbus discovered America, Lewis and Clark headed west with Sacajawea, and Sally Ride blasted into space. But what do you really know about these bold explorers? What were they like as kids? What pets or bad habits did they have? And what drove their passion to explore unknown parts of the world? With juicy tidbits about everything from favorite foods to first loves, Lives of the Explorers reveals these fascinating adventurers...

Isaac Newton was not only briiliant, but secretive, vindictive and obsessive. Here is a portrait of the man, contradictions and all, than places him against the backdrop of seventeenth-century England, a time of plague, the Great Fire of London, and two revolutions.

Shakespeare wrote with a feather quill and ink, Emily Dickinson wrote with a fountain pen, Isaac Bashevis Singer wrote on a Yiddish typewriter. But what did such writers do when they weren't writing? What did Jane Austen eat for breakfast? What could make Mark Twain throw his shirts out the window? Why would Zora Neale Hurston punch a fellow elevator passenger? Lives of the Writers tells all that and more.

Describes the life and work of the scientist who won two Nobel Prizes and died of radiation poisoning from years of investigating the dangerous elements that she herself had discovered.

This biography profiles the life and times of German-born theoretical physicist Albert Einstein, whose contributions to the field earned him a Nobel Prize.

An introduction to the thirteenth-century Chinese emperor which offers a more complete picture of the man than books which treat him as just a supporting player in Marco Polo's adventures.

Traces the life and work of the British biologist made famous by his controversial theory of natural selection.

"Kathleen Krull sheds new light on the Benjamin Franklin--who considered science his true calling in life, not nation building--in this perceptive, fair-minded portrait."--