{"id":43005,"date":"2025-05-14T23:08:41","date_gmt":"2025-05-15T03:08:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/?p=43005"},"modified":"2025-05-14T23:08:41","modified_gmt":"2025-05-15T03:08:41","slug":"review-of-the-brilliant-calculator-by-jan-lower-illustrated-by-susan-reagan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/?p=43005","title":{"rendered":"Review of The Brilliant Calculator, by Jan Lower, illustrated by Susan Reagan"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>The Brilliant Calculator<\/p>\n

How Mathematician Edith Clarke Helped Electrify America<\/em><\/p>\n

by Jan Lower
\nillustrated by Susan Reagan<\/p>\n

Calkins Creek, 2023. 40 pages.
\nReview written November 14, 2023, from a library book.
\nStarred Review
\n2024 Mathical Book Prize Honor Book<\/a>, Ages 8-10.<\/p>\n

There’s no way I won’t love it: A picture book biography that has “Mathematician” in the title!<\/p>\n

This picture book tells the story of Edith Clarke, America’s first female electrical engineer, whose long and varied career helped produce the technology that keeps power lines from losing power over distance.<\/p>\n

That’s the most easily understandable of her achievements. This author does a good job of explaining that she was brilliant, that she used mathematics, that she proved herself when men didn’t want to hire her, and that she created inventions that made calculations easier and ultimately make our lives better today.<\/p>\n

I like that even though her accomplishments were technical, the author and illustrator presented them in a way kids can understand. I also liked the quotes from Edith sprinkled throughout the book, with this one at the end of the main text, before the six pages of back matter:<\/p>\n

There is a future for women in engineering, and some day the only limitation will be their own lack of ability, as we are fast approaching an age in which men and women will be measured by their worth as individuals.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

May it be so.<\/p>\n

janlower.com<\/a>
\nsusanreaganart.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Buy from Amazon.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Find this review on Sonderbooks<\/a> at: www.sonderbooks.com\/Childrens_Nonfiction\/brilliant_calculator.html<\/a><\/p>\n

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.<\/p>\n

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.<\/p>\n

What did you think of this book?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Brilliant Calculator How Mathematician Edith Clarke Helped Electrify America by Jan Lower illustrated by Susan Reagan Calkins Creek, 2023. 40 pages. Review written November 14, 2023, from a library book. Starred Review 2024 Mathical Book Prize Honor Book, Ages 8-10. There’s no way I won’t love it: A picture book biography that has “Mathematician” […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[66,46,11,42],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-43005","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-award-winners","category-biography","category-childrens-nonfiction-review","category-starred-review"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43005","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=43005"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43005\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":45244,"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43005\/revisions\/45244"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=43005"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=43005"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=43005"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}