Science is a story about people.

The series

Famous in STEM is a series of seven nonfiction books, each devoted to one field: physics, mathematics, computing, chemistry, biology, medicine and engineering. Together they tell the true stories of 161 people in 158 chapters, from Archimedes and Ibn Sina to Katherine Johnson, Tu Youyou and Tim Berners-Lee.

Every chapter opens with a real scene from the person’s life, explains one real idea in plain words, and usually includes something to try, to notice or to think about. The books are written for readers 13 and up, and for anyone who would rather meet science through people than through a textbook.

The 2026 editions

For 2026 every chapter was rewritten and checked against published sources, new illustrations were drawn to explain the science, and the seven covers were redesigned as one set. Where a famous anecdote rests on a single account, the books say so instead of passing legend off as fact.

The author

Javier Sanz is the author of the Famous in STEM series and of other nonfiction books, including 500 Careers and Salaries and 200 Jobs Explained. Every title is listed on the Amazon author page.

The books

• Vol. 1: The Greatest Physicists, 26 minds who cracked the laws of the universe
• Vol. 2: Mathematical Masterminds, 23 minds who found the patterns behind everything
• Vol. 3: Tech Titans of Silicon Valley, the rebels and coders who built the digital world
• Vol. 4: Explosive Chemists, 24 daring minds who changed what the world is made of
• Vol. 5: Brilliant Biologists, 21 explorers who revealed how life works
• Vol. 6: Medical Pioneers, 20 healers who beat disease and saved millions
• Vol. 7: Extraordinary Engineers, 20 builders who engineered the modern world

See the series on Amazon