Juvenile Nonfiction: Lives of the Scientists, Kathleen Krull & Kathryn Hewitt

Lives of the Scientists: Experiments, Explosions (and What the Neighbors Thought)
Kathleen Krull, illustrated by Kathryn Hewitt
ISBN: 9780152059095
(Part of a series of "Lives of" books)

First off, I really don't like oversized bobble-head art, but despite that, the faces are well done and engaging, and the other (non-portrait) illustrations are even more attractive, done in a soft-edged realistic style.

Second, I really DO like the effort put into highlighting women scientists, and that they included scientists of color and from non Western backgrounds (although they could have done a bit better, in my opinion - it's still pretty heavily western-centric).

Here's the biographical breakdown, non-Western scientists in bold, and women in italics:

Zhang Heng
Ibn Sina
Galileo
Isaac Newton
William and Catherine Herschel
Charles Darwin
Louis Pasteur
Ivan Pavlov
George Washington Carver
Marie Curie
Albert Einstein
Edwin Hubble
Barbara McClintock
Grace Murray Hopper
Rachel Carson
Chien-Shiung Wu
James D Watson and Francis Crick (with an honorable mention of poor Rosalind Franklin in England)
Jane Goodall

The biographies are short and to the point, focusing on the mind-set (and often on the peculiar personal habits) of these varied scientists.  In addition to their scientific discoveries, the biography talks about their beliefs, their family and children (or lack thereof) the hardships they overcame, and how they died.  Each bio also tries to add a bit of levity by including some 'truth is stranger than fiction' tidbits about their lives.

The For Further Reading page is sadly just one page, but the resources included look solid and comprehensive.