The Man Who Invented the Ferris Wheel: The Genius of George Ferri

George Washington Gale Ferris, Jr. was an American engineer. He graduated from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, NY, where he was a member of the Rensselaer Society of Engineers, in the class of 1881 with a degree in Civil Engineering. He was made a member of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Alumni Hall of Fame in 1998. He is most famous for creating the original Ferris Wheel for the 1893 Chicago World's Columbian Exposition.

Books in the Genius Inventors and Their Great Ideas series offer colorful, accessible introductions to individual American inventors. Each book features five chapters of text, laid out in wide-spaced lines of fairly large type. Illustrations include contemporary color photos as well as period photos of the inventor from childhood through adulthood. In each book, the back matter has an identical, chapter-length section of advice and encouragement called “You Be the Inventor.” Ferris Wheel introduces George Ferris, the engineer who designed and built the original ride for the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago. While older students will crave more information, books in the series do serve a practical purpose, presenting a simple account of the inventor’s life and work in an attractive format. Some libraries may have volumes on the same subjects from an earlier version of the series, Genius at Work! Great Inventor Biographies. There are updates on the time line and bibliography pages. Caution: although the authors are the same, the books have been retitled. Grades 2-4. --Carolyn Phelan