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It is easy to underestimate how much the world can change within a lifetime. Bringing to mind how dramatically the world has changed can help us see how different the world could be in a few years or decades.

Technology can change the world in ways that are unimaginable, until they happen. Switching on an electric light would have been unimaginable for our medieval ancestors. In their childhood, our grandparents would have struggled to imagine a world connected by smartphones and the Internet.

Similarly, it is hard for us to imagine the arrival of all those technologies that will fundamentally change the world we are used to.

We can remind ourselves that our own future might look very different from the world today by looking back at how rapidly technology has changed our world in the past. That's what this article is about.

One insight I take away from this long-term perspective is how unusual our time is. Technological change was extremely slow in the past - the technologies that our ancestors got used to in their childhood were still central to their lives in their old age. In stark contrast to those days, we live in a time of extraordinarily fast technological change. For recent generations, it was common for technologies that were unimaginable in their youth to become common later in life.

The long-run perspective on technological change

The big visualization offers a long-term perspective on the history of technology.¹

The timeline begins at the center of the spiral. The first use of stone tools, 3.4 million years ago, marks the beginning of this history of technology.² Each turn of the spiral then represents 200,000 years of history. It took 2.4 million years - 12 turns of the spiral - for our ancestors to control fire and use it for cooking.³

To be able to visualize the inventions in the more recent past - the last 12,000 years - I had to unroll the spiral. I needed more space to be able to show when agriculture, writing, and the wheel were invented. During this period, technological change was faster, but it was still relatively slow: several thousand years passed between each of these three inventions.

From 1800 onwards, I stretched out the timeline even further to show the many major inventions that rapidly followed one after the other.

The long-term perspective that this chart provides makes it clear just how unusually fast technological change is in our time.

You can use this visualization to see how technology developed in particular domains. Follow, for example, the history of communication: from writing, to paper, to the printing press, to the telegraph, the telephone, the radio, all the way to the Internet and smartphones.

Or follow the rapid development of human flight. In 1903, the Wright brothers took the first flight in human history (they were in the air for less than a minute), and just 66 years later, we landed on the moon. Many people saw both within their lifetimes: the first plane and the moon landing.

This large visualization also highlights the wide range of technology's impact on our lives. It includes extraordinarily beneficial innovations, such as the vaccine that allowed humanity to eradicate smallpox, and it includes terrible innovations, like the nuclear bombs that endanger the lives of all of us.

What will the next decades bring?

The red timeline reaches up to the present and then continues in green into the future. Many children born today, even without any further increases in life expectancy, will live well into the 22nd century.

New vaccines, progress in clean, low-carbon energy, better cancer treatments - a range of future innovations could very much improve our living conditions and the environment around us. But, as I argue in a series of articles, there is one technology that could even more profoundly change our world: artificial intelligence (AI).

One reason why artificial intelligence is such an important innovation is that intelligence is the main driver of innovation itself. This fast-paced technological change could speed up even more if it's not only driven by humanity's intelligence, but artificial intelligence too. If this happens, the change that is currently stretched out over the course of decades might happen within very brief time spans of just a year. Possibly even faster.⁴

I think AI technology could have a fundamentally transformative impact on our world. In many ways, it is already changing our world, as I documented in this companion article. As this technology is becoming more capable in the years and decades to come, it can give immense power to those who control it (and it poses the risk that it could escape our control entirely).

Such systems might seem hard to imagine today, but AI technology is advancing very fast. Many AI experts believe there is a real chance that human-level artificial intelligence will be developed within the next decades, as I documented in this article.

A long-term timeline of technology ⁵

Technology will continue to change the world - we should all make sure that it changes it for the better

What is familiar to us today - photography, the radio, antibiotics, the Internet, or the International Space Station circling our planet - was unimaginable to our ancestors just a few generations ago. If your great-great-great grandparents could spend a week with you they would be blown away by your everyday life.

What I take away from this history is that I will likely see technologies in my lifetime that appear unimaginable to me today.

In addition to this trend towards increasingly rapid innovation, there is a second long-run trend. Technology has become increasingly powerful. While our ancestors wielded stone tools, we are building globe-spanning AI systems and technologies that can edit our genes.

Because of the immense power that technology gives those who control it, there is little that is as important as the question of which technologies get developed during our lifetimes. Therefore I think it is a mistake to leave the question about the future of technology to the technologists. Which technologies are controlled by whom is one of the most important political questions of our time, because of the enormous power that these technologies convey to those who control them.

We all should strive to gain the knowledge we need to contribute to an intelligent debate about the world we want to live in. To a large part this means gaining the knowledge, and wisdom, on the question of which technologies we want.

Acknowledgements: I would like to thank my colleagues Hannah Ritchie, Bastian Herre, Natasha Ahuja, Edouard Mathieu, Daniel Bachler, Charlie Giattino, and Pablo Rosado for their helpful comments to drafts of this essay and the visualization. Thanks also to Lizka Vaintrob and Ben Clifford for a conversation that initiated this visualization.

Our World in Data presents the data and research to make progress against the world's largest problems.
This article draws on data and research discussed in our entry on Artificial Intelligence.

Endnotes

1. The recent speed of technological change makes it difficult to picture the history of technology in one visualization. When you visualize this development on a linear timeline then most of the timeline is almost empty, while all the action is crammed into the right-corner:

In my large visualization here I tried to avoid this problem and instead show the long history of technology in a way that lets you see when each technological breakthrough happened, and how within the last millennia there was a continuous acceleration of technological change.

2. It is of course difficult to assess when exactly the first stone tools were used.

The research by McPherron et al (2010) suggested that it was at least 3.39 million years ago. This is based on two fossilized bones, found in Dikika in Ethiopia, which showed "stone-tool cut marks for flesh removal and percussion marks for marrow access". These marks were interpreted as being caused by the consumption of meat and provide the first evidence that one of our ancestors, Australopithecus afarensis, used stone tools.

The research by Harmand et al (2015) provided evidence for stone tool use in today's Kenya 3.3 million years ago.

References:

McPherron et al (2010) - Evidence for stone-tool-assisted consumption of animal tissues before 3.39 million years ago at Dikika, Ethiopia. Published in Nature.

Harmand et al (2015) - 3.3-million-year-old stone tools from Lomekwi 3, West Turkana, Kenya. Published in Nature.

3. Evidence for controlled fire use approximately 1 million years ago is provided by Berna et al (2012) Microstratigraphic evidence of in situ fire in the Acheulean strata of Wonderwerk Cave, Northern Cape province, South Africa, published in PNAS.

The authors write: "The ability to control fire was a crucial turning point in human evolution, but the question of when hominins first developed this ability still remains. Here we show that micromorphological and Fourier transform infrared microspectroscopy (mFTIR) analyses of intact sediments at the site of Wonderwerk Cave, Northern Cape province, South Africa, provide unambiguous evidence-in the form of burned bone and ashed plant remains-that burning took place in the cave during the early Acheulean occupation, approximately 1.0 Ma. To the best of our knowledge, this is the earliest secure evidence for burning in an archaeological context."

4. This is what authors like Holden Karnofsky called 'Process for Automating Scientific and Technological Advancement' or PASTA. There are some recent developments that go in this direction: DeepMind's AlphaFold helped to make progress on one of the large problems in biology, and they have also developed an AI system that finds new algorithms that are relevant to building a more powerful AI.

5. Some references for the dates for ancient technologies can be found in the footnotes in the main text.
The references for beds, bows, and arrows, and the earliest known musical instruments are the following:
Beds are at least 200,000 years old according to Wadley, Lyn; Esteban, Irene; Peña, Paloma de la; Wojcieszak, Marine; Stratford, Dominic; Lennox, Sandra; d'Errico, Francesco; Rosso, Daniela Eugenia; Orange, François; Backwell, Lucinda; Sievers, Christine (2020) - Fire and grass-bedding construction 200 thousand years ago at Border Cave, South Africa". Published in Science.
Bow and arrow are at least 62,000 years old - according to Backwell, Lucinda; Bradfield, Justin; Carlson, Kristian J.; Jashashvili, Tea; Wadley, Lyn & d'Errico, Francesco (April 2018) - The antiquity of bow-and-arrow technology: evidence from Middle Stone Age layers at Sibudu Cave. Published in Antiquity.
The earliest known musical instrument is a flute found on Germany's Swabian Alb and dates back to around 43,000 years according to Thomas Higham; Laura Basell; Roger Jacobic; Rachel Wood; Christopher Bronk Ramsey; Nicholas J. Conard (2012) - Τesting models for the beginnings of the Aurignacian and the advent of figurative art and music: The radiocarbon chronology of Geißenklösterle. Published in Journal of Human Evolution.

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Technology over the long run: zoom out to see how dramatically the world can change within a lifetime

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It is easy to underestimate how much the world can change within a lifetime. Bringing to mind how dramatically the world has changed can help us see how different the world could be in a few years or decades.

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Historians And Their Sources | Class 6 - History | Learn With BYJU'S

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The use of different calendars around the world

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The use of different calendars around the world

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The easy-to-use getaway to historical maps in libraries around the world.

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Sapiens, a great comic book on human history in the Learning Center

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Sapiens, a great comic book on human history in the Learning Center

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'Sapiens: A Graphic History' - Official Trailer

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BBC - Programmes categorised as Factual: History - Available now

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List of available BBC programmes categorised as "Factual: History".

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History's "worst" nun - Theresa A. Yugar

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In school, 11-year-old readers (in 6th grade) are reading more nonfiction books than ever. Which means they need practice in excellent books. Here's a list of nonfiction books that are so good, your kids will learn a lot AND still enjoy the reading experience.
BOOK LISTS BY AGES Fiction Books for 11 Year Olds Picture Book Biographies Nonfiction Reading Comprehension Strategies
Nonfiction Books for 11-Year-Olds (6th Grade)

The book includes detailed illustrations and photographs of Maria's actual drawings and the insect and plant specimens she observed plus occasional informational insets describing the world around her at the time- the first museums, the role of women, and science before photography, just to name a few. Maria's dogged passion for the natural world, insects, in particular, led to being one of the first naturalists to document a butterfly's metamorphosis. Her story is fascinating and inspirational. I love this book! Added to: Best Biographies for Women's History Month

It's Up to You, Abe Lincoln: How I Made the Biggest Decisions of My Life by Tom & Leila Hirschfeld
Written in the second tense "you," this book puts you squarely in the driver's seat as Abe Lincoln. It describes your life s tarting from childhood with photos, fun facts, and quizzes of "What Would You Do?" For example, when you're considering marrying Mary What Do You Do? You'll be given a list of four choices, each with elaboration. The choices, in this case, are: A. Break up with Mary. B. Date other women. C. Marry fast, before your feet get even colder. D. Consult a pastor. Then, you'll read the reveal - what choice you made. ( A. Break up with Mary.) The writing flows smoothly, the layout is eye-catching, and the information is interesting and historically important.

by Alan Katz, illustrated by Chris Judge
Kids will zip through this excellent middle-grade biography because the author makes the information relevant and relatable. The writing is conversational, the author is totally hilarious (especially when he talks about his own ridiculous inventions or the questions he asks Siri) and there are illustrations, quizzes, fast facts, and activities plus a wealth of fascinating information about each inventor's life. You'll read about the inventors of video games, the television remote control, the cell phone, windshield wipers, the first web browser, and the microwave oven. I appreciate that the book includes both men and women inventors! Also of note is that Katz takes us through the process of how each inventor got their idea as well as the final product.

by Ammi-Joan Paquette and Laurie Ann Thompson, illustrated by Lisa K. Weber
This book is GENIUS! Kids to read and figure out what is true and what is a lie. Know that readers will not just be reading and thinking deeply, but they'll also doing research while they're immersed in the book... (Because 11-year-old readers must know if a prehistoric dinosaur named "Bambi" exists, if the slyrking will take over your picnic, or if doctors really can implant a stimoceiver in the brain to control your behavior.)

The Thrifty Guide to Ancient Rome by Jonathan W. Stokes
The Thrifty Guides Handbooks for Time Travelers are irresistible, wildly imaginative romps through history. These books are filled with tongue and cheek hilarity while also being boldly informative about their historical topics. If Ancient Rome is your preferred destination, you'll need your handy handbook close by to make sure you survive - which seems to be unlikely since, since as the book says, " Rome is an absolute deathtrap." Throughout these thrifty travel guides, you'll read letters from your " Corporate Overlord at Time Corp ". These, as you may expect, are hilarious! The guides are published by Time Corp in the year 2164 to help vacationing tourists with the most practical information for their time travel trips. Information such as:

Where to find a decent hotel room

How to dress (Ancient fashions are tricky - read the guide because you don't wear a candy corn hat when you're supposed to wear a tricorne hat! And if you're in Rome, here's a helpful tip: "While any chump can wear a tunic, only free Roman citizens are allowed to wear togas... If you think you can pass as a citizen and you're planning to wear a toga, just know that it's been bleached white using stale urine.")

What's going on when you arrive

Who is important

Helpful hints ("What to Do If You Are Enslaved in Rome")

Who to take out to lunch

Pranks to pull ("Install a metal detector at the Roman Senate in 44 BC and you can completely prevent Caesar's assassination by knife-wielding Senators. Caesar will feel grateful, and it doesn't hurt to have the most powerful man in the world as your new best friend.")

Charts ("Cleopatra's Perfectly Normal Family Tree")

Maps ("All the Land Caesar Conquers in Europe, 58 - 51 BC")

This dense book is filled with cool information and fun hands-on activities that kids will love trying. You'll find these categories: the natural world, the human body, chemistry, Earth, physics, and space. Make bug chambers in the natural world, do a taste test in the human body, test black ink in chemistry, make a solar tower in Earth, make paper airplanes in physics, and more! An impressive amount of ideas fill this DK nonfiction book.

Can You Crack the Code? A Fascinating History of Ciphers and Cryptography by Ella Schwartz, illustrated by Lily Williams CODES - STEM
This book is perfect for children who love to solve puzzles and think deeply. Even better, it's very well written, flowing with information that makes sense so you'll want to keep reading. This book intersperses activities, puzzles, insets of information, bolded words, biographies and more throughout the text - I'm very impressed! I can see homeschoolers using this book as a teaching tool or families reading it together just for fun.

by Erica Armstrong Dunbar and Kathleen Van Cleve This is a VERY well-written narrative nonfiction book but to be honest, I felt sick reading about the world into which Ona was born and raised...and that George Washington owned human beings. The authors set the scene and context of the world into which Ona is born. At age 10, Ona becomes Martha Washington's personal slave. After 13 years of this thankless work with no pay, no days off, no freedom to have a feeling,...many of those years in Philadelphia, Ona learns that Martha plans to send Ona as a "gift" to Martha's unkind granddaughter. Ona escapes north with the help of other freed slaves living in the city. Washington is so mad he wants to break his own law -the fugitive slave act- by capturing her without a trial and returning her to his wife. But that doesn't happen and even though Ona lives in poverty with many losses, she lives free.

by Susie Hodge
My 11-year-old artistically-inclined daughter thinks this is the BEST book! In fact, she says it's been much better than this year's not-so-great art teacher at her school. You'll f ind out so many useful facts to questions you probably didn't even know you had such as: Why is everything blurry? Do artists copy each other? Why is art so expensive? This book takes common kid questions and helps children understand and appreciate art in a deeper way. Very interesting!! I'm glad we own it.

What a fascinating, informative look at the difficult road women faced in their journey to become astronauts! Despite facing misogynistic attitudes, American women persisted in their quest to become astronauts. Meanwhile, the Russians started a female space program and launched a woman astronaut long before the U.S. did. Eventually the U.S. caught up and you'll be inspired by read the stories of these fascinating trail blazers, American and Russian.

by Robert Burleigh, illustrated by Sterling Hundley
Fascinating and important! I learned so much history that I didn't know about both Abraham Lincoln and Walt Whitman. Whitman observed Lincoln as a candidate and later as the President. The Civil War affected Whitman deeply, he hated the suffering and visited wounded soldiers regularly. It's not a typical picture book because it is dense with information but would be great for the upper grades.

by Jane Solomon, illustrated by Louise Lockhart
Want a mesmerizing book that is even better than a word-a-day calendar? This oversized dictionary contains the coolest selection of 400 words that kids will love to learn beginning with abecedarian (someone who is learning the alphabet) continuing to Zeppelin. Each letter gives readers about 15 new words to learn. This includes the word, pronunciation, part of speech, and definition. You'll find haberdashery, ichthyologist, luddite and mugwump, mulligrubs, mumpsimus, and mishpocha. Read one of these words (or more) every day. Then try to use it at least a few times in a sentence. It won't be too onerous and you won't be ramfeezled; in fact, learning new words might just be a salubrious experience because you'll soon become a sesquipedalian.

A Black Woman Did That: 42 Boundary-Breaking, Bar-Raising, World-Changing Women by Malaika Adero, illustrated by Chante Timothy
In this book, you'll meet women and girls who will inspire you. Read about fascinating and admirable women who are scientists, models, athletes, politicians, dancers, and more. Fascinating writing and fascinating people with impactful, vivid illustrations.

Noise Makers: 25 Women Who Raised Their Voices & Changed the World by Kazoo Magazine
Readers who like comics will love the format of these short biographies. Not only are the bios told in comic form, the two-page spread for each individual gives readers why the woman is famous and what time period they're from (Fossil Hunter / Mary Annino / 1799 - 1847) as well as how YOU might be like the famous woman... ("I like to hike, I'm patient, I like to draw pictures,...") Get informed and inspired by reading about Bessie Coleman, Julia Child, Hedy Lamarr, Mary Shelley, Josephine Baker, and others. An accessible, interesting tome that celebrates females who've made a difference in the world.

Rise Up: Ordinary Kids With Extraordinary Stories by Amanda Li, illustrated by Amy Blackwell
A must-own book and favorite from this list! Kids will love the colorful layouts, exceptional writing, and wealth of information about SO many amazing role model kids. Learn about Poorna Malavath from India who climbed Mt. Everest, Desmond Doss, a WWII hero from the U.S., and Molly Kelly from Australia who escaped from forced resettlement for Aboriginal children. The writing grabs you from the first sentence - and makes these children's true stories exciting and dramatic as if you were reading an adventure story.

So You Want to Be a Roman Soldier? by Philip Matyszak, illustrated by Takayo Akiyama
This is a kid-friendly somewhat irreverent guide to being a Roman starting with an example entrance exam and application form. Learn how to train, collect weapons, prepare for war, and even storm a city.

by Catherine Thimmesh, illustrated by Melissa Sweet
I really loved this expanded and revised edition because Melissa Sweet's design and illustrations make the book so special. The author writes the biographies like a fictional narrative story with action and suspense but it's all true. These biographies are about women who solved problems by inventing the solution. What great models for entrepreneurs, inventors, and having a growth mindset.

Organized by sports (bat and ball, indoor, winter, outside, rackets, and aquatic,) each entry talks about the sport and then adds in the scientific elements, finishing off with an experiment. Take for example, "Why Does Pumping Up a Basketball Make it Bouncier?" talks about different ball sports and then gives you a cool bouncing experiment to try where you compare different bounce heights to their inflated pounds per square inch. I LOVE the ideas and lessons in this book and can't wait to try some with my kids.

by Debbie Levy, illustrated by Whitney Gardner
Introduce young readers to the fascinating life of Ruth Bader Ginsburg with this clearly-written graphic novel that shows about her life from childhood to adulthood including her family life. You'll see how women were treated differently than men and the challenges that a trailblazer like Ginsburg faced. She experienced discrimination first hand. For example, discrimination affected where she went to law school (some schools didn't allow women) and even though she was top of her class, she found that she wasn't getting any job offers. Based on her experiences and quest for fairness, Ginsburg became passionate about civil liberties, specifically gender discrimination. Not only was she a lawyer and judge but she also became a Supreme Court Justice. Readers will see how Ginsburg was true to her self and her goals and persisted despite difficulties and used her career to fight for equal rights. Well-crafted and highly recommended.

by Maris Wicks
An adorable yellow fish narrates this informative book about his habitat, coral reefs. It's all facts though so it's not the kind of book that most kids (or adults) will want to sit down and read in one sitting. Read it in chunks and you'll soon be an expert on coral reefs.

by Sean Connolly
CHEMISTRY
FASCINATING! I love the writing in this book because it makes chemistry really understandable and interesting. You'll read about an element on the periodic table then do a related experiment. For example, you might learn how iron oxidizes by submerging steel wool in vinegar. Or learn about magnesium with an Epsom salts crystalizing experiment.

by Kate Messner, illustrated by Jillian Nickell
Stylized to look like a comic book of superhero action with oversized pictures and the occasional large comic-style typeface of smack! pow! and chomp! impress upon the reader just how super these superbugs are. Bugs like the Green tiger beetle, the fastest of all insects. Messner shares the must-know basics (name, size, hideout, superpower) then launches into fascinating details about each including what they eat (favorite foods) and who eats them (archenemies). Action-filled cartoon panels show a bug stalking and then devouring its food. Interesting insets of information narrate more facts about each insect. What kid could resist reading this enthralling tome!?

Percy Jackson's Greek Gods by Rick Riordan, illustrated by John Rocco
My kids can't stop reading and rereading this enormous volume of Greek myths, retold Riordan style - I'm talking laugh-out-loud style. Remember all the hilarious chapter titles in Riordan's Percy Jackson books? And the witty, sarcastic voice of Percy? Yup. All here. 11-year-olds will GET this humor.

illustrated by Martin O'Neill

EXCELLENT. Rhode's conversational voice and writing style make the wealth of information about classical composers surprisingly easy to read with flow and pizazz. Be sure to link to his playlist so you can listen as you read to the composers and their most famous pieces. Rhodes explains the background for each, too. For example, listen to "The Marriage of Figaro Overture" while you read how Mozart threatened the Austrian emperor so he'd be chosen for the opera which ended up being an amazing, long, very tricky opera (3 hours). Brilliant color and graphic design will appeal to readers as it brings the subject into the modern-day world.

I'm not interested in this topic at all but I know kids who are. For them, this book will be a gold mine of cool facts and information. And my kids and I LOVED this series' other book, Wacky Facts About History.

We Are Artists: Women who Made Their Mark on the World by Kari Herbert
FEMALE ARTISTS
I'm loving this book so much - it shares with well-written biographies (about 3- 5 pages for each woman) about so many female artists from different countries, each with their own unique style and life experience. From Yayoi Kusama of Japan to Alma Thomas of the U.S. to Amrita Sher-Gil of India and Hungary, discover incredible, passionate artists with long-lasting influence.

by Kate Schatz, illustrated by Miriam Klein Stahl
Once I started reading these biographies (which I flipped and read in random order), I got very hooked. Hopefully, this book will inspire kids as much as it did me. Plus, it's really interesting to read about other people, ordinary people who did amazing things.

National Geographic Why'd They Wear That: Fashion as the Mirror of History by Sarah Albee
Engrossing from front to back. Albee writes fantastic chapter titles and headings: (Notice a theme? Nonfiction is getting GOOD, people!) " Caulk like an Egyptian," "Putting the "Protest" in Protestant," and " Hazardous Hemlines." The book is formatted so that you can pick and choose interesting sections such as Corsets, Dressed to Compress because the corset photo is so intriguing or the inset of information has such a tantalizing title, " Why Did Napoleon Always Have His Hand in His Coat? "

by Stephanie Warren Drimmer

Packed with interesting information, colorful layouts and photographs, you'll discover new (Pat Summitt, Rachel Carson) and familiar (Malala Yousafzai, Mother Teresa) women to admire and learn more about who they are and their boldest moments. Well-done and easy to digest for 11 year olds (6th grade).

Little Dreamers Visionary Women Around the World by Vashti Harrison
Harrison's artwork is stunning- framable I think. This book features the biographies 35 women; women like Ada Lovelace, Marie Curie, and Grace Hooper. Each biography is one page paired with an illustration. The information shares more about the woman's contributions to the world like the physicist who experimented with subatomic particle decay.

Totally Wacky Facts About History by Cari Meister
This reminds me of the Strange But True books only about history and from a different publisher. And, I LOVE IT! This little book makes history interesting to kids - it's filled with colorful photos and illustrations and yes, wacky facts. Here are a few to get you started:
Early Chinese spies flew on large kites to gather information about their enemies. Ancient Romans were the first to record seeing UFOs. Napoleon suffered from ailurophobia. that means he was afraid of cats.
Cool, right? Makes you want to know more!

The Doodle Book of Feel Good: A Doodle/Coloring Book for All Ages by Charise Mericle Harper Pure fun and inspiration great you on every page in this coloring book. Each design has a saying like these: happy is the best flavor, you can say no thank you, and hooray day. Love these!

Wild Boy: The Real Life of the Savage of Aveyron by Mary Losure
Based on a true story, this is a historical recounting of a wild boy the early 1800s found in France. I found the life fascinating as the author takes us on the journey of his life. He's studied as a beast, less than person. In fact, scientists of the time believed he was not a human but something other. This book will make you think.

What Color is My World? The Lost History of African-American Inventors by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Raymond Obstfeld, illustrated by Ben Boos & A.G. Ford
Twins, Herbie and Ella, move into a new house where they meet Mr. Mital, a handyman who surprises the kids with fascinating information about African-American scientists. Throughout the narrative are non-fiction lift-the-flap sidebars and two-page spread biographies of people like James E. West who invented a compact microphone used in race cars or Frederick McKinley Jones, Dr. Percy Lavon Julian, George Crum, Dr. Valerie L. Thomas, and many others. The large size of the book, the fold-out parts, and bright illustrations make it an appealing design for kids.

365 Days of Wonder: Mr. Browne's Book of Precepts by R. J. Palacio
If you're like us and love quotes, this is the book for you. Even if you haven't read the book Wonder, you will still find the quotes ch chosen here (precepts) meaningful and thought-provoking from Anne Frank, Martin Luther King Jr., Confucius, Goethe, Sappho-and over 100 readers of Wonder who sent R. J. Palacio their own precepts.

Whoppers: History's Most Outrageous Lies and Liars by Christine Seifert
I read this nonfiction book aloud to my kids - it was SO fun because it prompted great discussion and interaction. They couldn't believe that people would make up such outrageous lies. Learn these incredible wild whoppers - from people you've heard of like Charles Ponzi to people you've never heard of like George Psalmanazar who convinced people he was a native from his made-up island of Formosa.

Mercy The Incredible Story of Henry Bergh: Founder of the ASPCA and Friend to Animals by Nancy Furstinger This little nonfiction chapter book packs a big punch - it's the absolutely fascinating life of a rich (and formerly lazy) man named Henry Bergh who devoted his life and his money to saving maltreated animals in the late 1800s. (He also is persuaded to start campaigning for children as well - they were often treated just as badly or worse!) This is one of my favorite narrative nonfiction books ever. One of the reasons I like this book so much is that the writing is excellent and the author paints a complete picture of a man who is flawed. The print is big (yeah!) and the illustrations throughout add to the narrative. FANTASTIC and I highly recommend this narrative nonfiction chapter book for schools and libraries!

Biggest and Smallest! Guinness World Records Over 300 Fun Facts by Christy Webster
Photos accompany fun facts about the biggest and smallest of so many things - food, instruments, and more. Fun for 11 year olds (6th grade) who love facts.

Wacky and Wild! Guinness World Records by Calliope Glass
The smallest living horse, a girl with the biggest collection of Hello Kitty items (one 4,000!), and the fastest snowman to run a marathon - all of these wacky facts are fun to read!

by Grace Norwich
My daughters and I love this fascinating book. It gives us a glimpse into the lives of a variety of international princesses. From historical princesses like Theodora of the Byzantine Empire to current princesses like Sikhanyiso of Swaziland or Victoria of Sweden, each has her own section including basic facts, cool facts, and big achievements. Special sections on royal pets, royal duties, hairdos, princes, and fashion add extra juicy tidbits for kids to enjoy.

by Maris Wicks
This nonfiction graphic novel ROCKS! It should be required reading for students studying the human body because the information presented this way is so memorable and understandable. I love Skeleton's narration and the awesomely cute illustrations of every body system from the smallest cell parts to the biggest organs.

by Hal Iggulden
Remember the wildly popular book, The Dangerous Book for Boys? This is the long-awaited sequel! Styled to look like a book from my own childhood, this is a dense volume of SO MUCH CONTENT to read and absorb! You'll find

information (12 Ceasars)

directions (finding the height of a tree)

experiments (The Fire Snake)

stories, tips (solving a Rubic's cube)

activities (the endless card)

games (The Moon is Round)

how-tos (how to write a thank you letter)

quotes (quotes from Shakespeare)

puzzles (math puzzles)

book recommendations

and more

I can't even begin to cover the scope of this book - I, myself, have barely cracked the surface of all the content inside. Ditch the phones and pick up this book. It will entertain and educate children for more hours than I can predict.

Women Athletes Who Rule! Sports Illustrated Kids
This book is set up so kids can flip through to find photographs and topics that interest them. Each page asks a question which it then answers. For example: Who has won the most beach volleyball tournaments of all time? or Who is the only American woman to win six medals in one Olympics? or Who was the first woman to play pro baseball? Find a question you like, then read the answer. I predict you'll love learning about these amazing athletes. The variety of sports is impressive, too from hockey to diving to NASCAR and plenty more. Get inspired as you read about record-breakers, trailblazers, superstars, and champions!

The Notorious Benedict Arnold by Steve Sheinkin
If only all nonfiction books for children were this engaging and well-written! This reads like a story, a narrative. Thank you, Mr. Sheinkin!

Bomb: The Race to Build -and Steal-the World's Most Dangerous Weapon by Steve Sheinkin
Another knock-out nonfiction book from the talented Steve Sheinkin! I'm so impressed by how Sheinkin makes this story come ALIVE like it's an adventure/mystery/thriller and not facts. Well, they do say truth is stranger than fiction. But usually, it's written like it's duller than dirt. This book is a great exception - totally engaging and kept my interest.

by Anita Silvey, forward by Jane Goodall
This is not your average biography for kids with small font and ugly black and white photos. No, it's so much better! Untamed is an excellent depiction of Jane Goodall's life with kid-friendly language using kid-appealing layouts of colorful photos. Interesting insets throughout describe tips for kids and information such as sign language. I love the Gombe Family Scrapbook at the end with some of the significant chimps in Jane's life. I also found it really interesting to learn how this English girl read about Africa as a child and fell in love with it.

Genius! The Most Astonishing Inventions of All Time by Deborah Kespert
A visually appealing graphic layout makes it easy to access the invention information - in fact, it's down-right enticing! Who knows I'd care about the Archimedes Screw and want to read all about it. Or the Elephant Clock - yes, that was a real thing which was super cool. You'll learn about these early inventions and more modern inventions such as the space rocket. This is a well-done, readable nonfiction book.

by Carlyn Cerniglia Beccia
If you have an interest in fashion, you'll love this fascinating book of biographies and style tips. Learn how Coco Chanel loved to visit graveyards and how to make your own Frida Kahlo style outfit. This was a hit for me because it was so engaging and well-written with fun, colorful illustrations.

Kid President's Guide to Being Awesome by Brad Montague & Robby Novak
Robby, the Kid President, and his brother-in-law, Brad Montague, started Kid President videos to put something positive into the world. Robby embodies this. He went through countless surgeries and broken bones due to his brittle bone disease and kept a positive attitude. So when Robby says, "You were made to be awesome. Keep going," He knows. He's been there and kept going. The book is filled with ways to be awesome and spread awesomeness in the world.

by Caleb Magyar and Stephanie Warren Drimmer
Starting with Hammurabi, the famous Babylon king whose code influenced all of history up to the present day, th is encyclopediac book of monarchs and leaders from cultures and civilizations around the world gives readers valuable historical perspective and understanding. But it doesn't stop there. Surprisingly, this book also contains mythical kings (Aragon) as well as kings of creativity, action, change, and knowledge, including people like Babe Ruth, Lin-Manuel Miranda, and Carl Sagan.

NonFiction Books for 11 Year Olds (6th Grade)

Fiction Book Lists By Age:

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Nonfiction Books for 11 Year Olds (6th Grade) | Imagination Soup

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In school, 11-year-old readers (in 6th grade) are reading more nonfiction books than ever. Which means they need practice in excellent books. Here's a list of nonfiction books that are so good, your kids will learn a lot AND still enjoy the reading experience.

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History of the world through maps : every year in history

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History of the world through maps : every year in history

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What History Was, Is, and Will Be: Crash Course European History #50

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Here find lots of well-researched videos on various geographical subjects...

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The Agricultural Revolution: Crash Course World History #1

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Outil permettant de générer des frises chronologiques

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Twinkl - KS2 Lessons and Explainer Videos

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A Timeline Of The Tallest Buildings In History