How to Win a Nobel Prize (Barry Marshall & Lorna Hendry, illus by Bernard Caleo, Piccolo Nero)

Ten-year-old Mary loves science, and dreams of one day winning a Nobel Prize. When her mother arranges for her to meet the Australian Nobel laureate Barry Marshall, Mary stumbles on to a secret meeting of Prize-winners, gathered from across time. After promising not to tell, Mary travels through time with Barry to meet Prizewinning scientists, from household names such as Einstein and Marie Curie, to lesser-known figures such as Tu Youyou. As Mary meets each scientist, she learns about their work and what it meant to the world, and asks their advice on how she might one day win a Nobel Prize. Written by Marshall and author Lorna Hendry, this book is a fun and fast-paced look at science and scientists. Each chapter introduces the scientist in question, capturing something of their personality and life story. This is followed by a page on the context and importance of their research, and a thematically related experiment that can be done at home. The scientists highlighted are a diverse mix of gender and nationalities. Marshall and Hendry deliver not only a pacy story, but informative background and intriguing experiments, ably illustrated by Australian comics legend Bernard Caleo. How to Win a Nobel Prize is highly recommended for budding scientists of upper-primary age.

Heath Graham is a teacher and former bookseller

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