Martin LUTHER (b. 1483) This is a man that changed the world by bringing more literacy to large parts of the world, asking that Christians read the Bible. The invention of printing came at the same time (look for Gutenberg). Luther's legacy has good sides and terrible ones (he was a violent antisemit and burned the books of his enemies). I had to read at school what Luther said about the city of Rome, the selling of souvenirs meant to cure you and the contrast between rich churches with images of saints covered with gifts and the poverty in the streets. When I first visited Rome in the early fifties, nothing had changed.

GALILEO GALILEI (b. 1564) The most hated person in the world, even today, second after Darwin! The legend says that when people saw Galileo looking at the sky with his new telescope, many were afraid that he would see God. It is a bit like Columbus' sailors fearing that the ship would fall from this flat earth. It is normal for us nowadays to have scientific freedom and freedom of speech. None of that existed for the pioneers of modern science.

NEWTON (b. 1643) Galileo was a good scientist, but not a good diplomat. Newton was, I think, definitely unpleasant; I read that he may have been autistic, but the condition was not known at the time (it is not well known now), so let us forget about his character and concentrate on his work. The most astonishing moment of Newton's life for me is when Halley (the man of the comet) came to visit Newton and asked him what was his opinion of the orbit of the planets. Everybody tried circles (because a circle is perfect shape in philosophy), but it did not work. Newton said it had to be an ellipse. Halley asked why? Newton answered "I have calculated it." The story always blew my mind. That is the major difference between Galileo and Newton: Galileo drew conclusions from observations, Newton had a theory.

Benjamin FRANKLIN (b. 1706) There are plenty of books on Franklin, and a huge number just for children.

Noah WEBSTER (b. 1758) and Pierre LAROUSSE (b. 1817)...in every country, at the end of the 19th century, there was a great need of educating people: the industrialist era wanted more educated workers, just as we do again now. The people who devoted their life to the first dictionaries were all remarkable. And their life stories are very interesting; read the fabulous account of the communications between Professor Murray (a contributor to the Oxford dictionary) and a person who is in a asylum for murder: The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of The Oxford English Dictionary.

Charles DARWIN (b. 1809) In a very old dictionary of biography that I used to have (I know it was published by Lippincott in 1870), our Darwin had three lines, his father had a whole column. This amused me no end.

Richard Henry DANA (b. 1815)is still well loved by sailors and oceanographers, because after an adventure as a seaman, he took at heart the horrible fate of the seamen of the time and became an expert on maritime law. He also was an abolitionist. His diary Two years before the mast makes a brilliant book. You got to read how he describes the coast of California when hardly anybody lived there (just before the gold rush). The book has great descriptions of bad weather. But the most interesting for me was the description of scurvy (a mortal disease caused by lack of vitamin C). It was frequent on board ships before refrigeration, when seamen were lacking fresh fruits and vegetables. In fact, this is written about fifty years after the well organized and well informed Captain Cook kept his own crew in good heath with sauerkraut and lemon juice! The story says that Cook observed that Dutch and German sailors, who always had sauerkraut on board (it is a common food in northern Europe) never got scurvy. Vitamin C was discovered much later, a century after Dana's book. You may wonder why this is so exciting: it is, because many people believe that when the British generalized the practices of Captain Cook, it gave the British Navy the edge that allowed Nelson to beat Napoleon. Based on Dana's book, you can see that it took at least two more generations to become generally known in the USA. You got to tell your kids the story of sauerkraut winning battles!

Florence NIGHTINGALE (b. 1820 in Florence, Italy, she was named after the city) This is the woman who created the modern nursing system. She was from a very good British family, and most of her life was spent under the reign of Queen Victoria. This was an era where women had no power: no personal money, no vote, no authority. So how is it that Florence became so successful? You got to know what it takes to change anything in a hospital, even nowadays, to wonder about a young women changing the whole British system of hospitals and influencing the rest of the world. Well, she had charity, stubborness, willpower, guts...all that, plus she had proof. She could show that the majority of soldiers did not die of their wounds but of unsanitary conditions in war hospitals. Florence was a gifted mathematician, and when she spoke to members of parliament, she would show them graphs easy to understand to support her position. When I was teaching the basics of statistics, I always started with Florence Nightingale (see also Clara Barton and Henri Dunant on the creation of the Red Cross).

Harriet TUBMAN (b. 1820) The most extraordinary woman, a run-away slave, abolitionist and suffragette, Mrs Tubman was also the most courageous person of her time. Meet a real American icon, and all the mysteries of the Underground Railroad.

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Mark TWAIN (b. 1835) Just like Alexandre Dumas, Mark Twain had a life as interesting as his books. Find the DVD (the film by Ken Burns about Twain is sold by PBS.org). Read Roughing it(essential book). If you have forgotten how talented Twain is, here is how he describes a coyote in that book: "He is always poor, out of luck and friendless. The meanest creatures despise him, and even the fleas would desert him for a velocipede. He is so spiritless and cowardly that even while his exposed teeth are pretending a threat, the rest of his face is apologizing for it. And he is so homely!--so scrawny, and ribby, and coarse-haired, and pitiful."

Henry STANLEY (b. 1841) Exploring the sources of the Nile and the Congo, finding another European in the middle of Africa ( Dr Livingstone, I presume) is the exciting part. Getting involved with slave traders, doing the dirty job of King Leopold II, brutally beating his porters, allowing unspeakable acts against black people on his expeditions, that is crime against humanity. I do not mind books which romanticize the truth, but I hate books which are dishonest and falsify the truth. So, I suggest we sit this one out.

Thomas EDISON (b. 1847) On the top of the Eiffel tower, Mr Eiffel kept a small office where he met Thomas Edison.

The WRIGHT Brothers (b. 1867 and 1871) and their wonderful flying machines

EINSTEIN (b. 1879) Always quote Einstein as an example of a kid who had a slow start at school!

Helen KELLER (b. 1880) In the 19th century, deafblind children were treated like animals, hidden inside the house because they were considered a shame to their family. They were left uneducated because people believed that one could not communicate with them. So was Helen Keller, until a fantastic educator took care of her. The first years of Helen Keller are related in a magnificent black and white movie from 1962 Miracle Worker(essential movie). But the first time I heard about Helen Keller was before that: she was a world celebrity in the fifties: she had learn to speak, could read four different languages using Braille, and had earned a college degree. She had become a writer and an activist for all kinds of causes. She appeared on the first page of our local newspaper visiting the museum of the Louvre in Paris. She had received the exceptional permission to touch the sculptures in the museum, and a photograph showed her exploring a sculpture with her hands. I never forgot that.

Eleanor ROOSEVELT (b. 1884) Imagine a woman who has a terrible childhood (her parents died when she was young), a terrible mother-in-law, a terrible husband (FDR had a link to his mother stronger than the link with his own family, then he betrayed her, then he got paralyzed: it is quite a weight for a young woman), and instead of wilting, that young woman became an astonishing hero. After her husband's death, she helped drafting the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, with French jurist Rene Cassin and John Peters Humphrey. It is a good and important text: we need texts about how we should be. I remember calling Rene Cassin when he got the Nobel Prize to congratulate him. "It is mostly nice for the family, said Cassin shyly, I am glad that they are pleased". Mrs Roosevelt certainly deserved a Nobel prize but did not get it. Parents should read with their kids this very intelligent book: You Learn by Living written by E.R.

St-EXUPERY (b. 1900) This French aviator wrote the most beautiful memoirs about flying: Night Flight, and Wind, sand and stars.

Simon WIESENTHAL(b. 1908) was in a death camp during WWII, survived, and spent the rest of his life tracking down Nazi criminals. I used to think he was supported by Israel and all kinds of local democratic movements, but it was not true: he was barely getting by for many years. His book about forgiveness is important: The Sunflower On the Possibilities and Limits of Forgiveness. What I think about the subject is simple: we have no right to forgive what has been done to somebody else (we got all the time on TV people who say I forgive you for killing (for instance) my mother or my husband, well it is not their call, is it?). The USA government was into fighting communism: they did not mind using the expertise of ex-Nazis. I have seen proof, for instance, that Werner von Braun, the, father of our space program picked up slave laborers for his work on rockets (the V-2 which were meant to destroy London); he also visited a slave camp in France: I have seen the photographs. Well, then, this makes of Wiesenthal an interesting figure for all of us. It is part of knowing what is wrong and what is right. if not now, when will be the right time?

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Rosa PARKS (b. 1913) Yes this is the woman who refused to follow segregation orders: she would not give her seat on a bus to a white passenger and this started a boycott movement that would change the face of America. But Rosa Parks was also much more than that.

Nelson MANDELA (b. 1918) civil rights leader and first president of the new democratic South Africa, Mandela really amazed me: coming out of 27 years in prison, he was as politically aware as any presidential candidate in the USA. Where I live in Savannah Georgia, I see people coming out of jail every day as "damaged goods": they have lost contact with reality, their reasoning is not right, their awareness of what interests the community is nil. I have seen young neighbors of mine who were "normal" at 18 years old, then who did something wrong and went to jail for one or two years: they came out a bit bizarre and unable to work. So resisting to what jail does to you for so many years is rare, coming out without hate is more rare, and being a good politician after that is unique.

ASIMOV (b. 1920) I admire people who write a book every year it takes a lot of dedication, specially when you have an old typewriter and no computer. But what about a man who writes a book every month? Asimov wrote over 500 books of science fiction, popular science, mysteries, books for children, history, Bible comments, anything. How did he get the time? He once said: "All I do is write. I do practically nothing else, except eat, sleep and talk to my wife". Of course he was not satisfied with writing one autobiography he wrote four. The part about his childhood and early life is very interesting, In memory yet green ; somebody should shorten the four volumes into one kid friendly format. There is one bio of Asimov for kids, but the School Library journal says it is not exciting.

Martin Luther KING for kids, for us (b. 1929) If there is one thing you may not know about MLK, it is that before his movement, practically nobody in Europe knew about racism in the USA.Most people thought it had ended in 1864.

Audrey HEPBURN (b. 1929) a good actor and a wonderful person, she lived in Holland when she was young. She was born the same year as Anne Frank. She was always discreet about her teen years fighting against the Nazis. One rare lovely person. I loved her because of what she did not say: I was born during WWII in Europe, I exactly know what she was about.

Anne FRANK (b. 1929) the diary of young fine girl who was killed by the Germans for no reason at all.

George LUCAS (b. 1944) Not only you can see Star Wars, but you can learn more about the gifted man who created it.

Elizabeth GLASER(b.1947) I tried to find a book on her, but I failed. Anybody who has seen the Starsky and Hutch series knew who was her husband (Paul Glaser played Starsky). Elizabeth contracted AIDS from a blood transfusion (not much was known about AIDS at the time, and the blood was not tested) and transmitted the HIV virus to her children. She became a powerful AIDS advocate for children. Her daughter died, but her son survived. Elizabeth died from AIDS at 47 years old. This was a great person at a turning point in the history of a new plague. When you talk to your children about AIDS (you know you should), this is a good starting point: the story of Mrs Glaser told by Wikipedia.

Lisa, QUEEN NOOR (b. 1951) Not many American women marry in royalty. There was of course Grace Kelly marrying Prince Rainier, but Queen Noor got a real job when she married King Hussein of Jordan. Her memoirs make an interesting read, and she did, still does, a remarkable job. King Hussein was called affectionately "the little king" in France, partly because he was not tall, partly because he had a small kingdom, and partly because of the book "The little Prince". King Hussein was, however, respected as a great king who managed to keep his kingdom from the destructive ambition of powerful neighbors and to fight for peace at a time peace was no more popular than it is now.

Mike SHANAHAN (b. 1952) Shame on you if you do not know the Broncos! Shanahan wrote one of the greatest books you can offer to a kid who likes sports (any sport). It is a great book about character and respect.

Sally FOX (b. 1955) What! No book on Sally Fox? And so much noise about Britney Spears! Anybody who likes knitting, spinning, and beautiful cotton knows who Sally Fox is: you will have to find out by yourself. Here is a hint.

Quincy JONES (b. 1933) When I get the time, I will write a page about musicians' books. In the meantime, if you read one biography of one musician, do yourself a favor and read the autobiography of Quincy. It is a great book, well structured, I should say well orchestrated, astonishing to read, and very honest, which is exceptional. It certainly is on top of my list of everybody should read this. Quincy should have a version of his autobiography made for children (keep the terrible pages about his childhood, all the beautiful pages about his constant learning, pass quickly over the love life).

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