Reviewers Show Their Enthusiasm for the Interdisciplinary, Mind-Expanding Experience of STEAM.
STEAM recognizes “art and design as the ‘secret sauce’ in multiple fields, engaging with creative exploration to reach greater potential — the potential that will help to define advancements in the twenty-first century.”
— Rosanne Somerson, furniture maker, designer & president, Rhode Island School of Design
A grand shout-out to the following for reviewing Leonardo’s Science Workshop. In my conversations in the boardroom and coffee shop, STEAM is sometimes mistaken as a typo for STEM. And some engineers have wanted to set me straight, saying that arts + design, represented by the letter A in STEAM, are unnecessary and already encapsulated in the acronym’s E for engineering. I think I will forward their comments and contact information to John Maeda, former president, Rhode Island School of Design. RISD, by the way, is the birthplace of STEAM as a national movement.
In its vision of the national value of STEAM, RISD, just as Leonardo da Vinci had done in his work, embraces the natural relationship between art and science. The interrelationship forms a model for education, says RISD, that “would better prepare future generations to compete in the 21st-century innovation economy.”
To the following three reviewers of Leonardo Science Workshop, who know the value of exploring STEAM in education and life-long learning, thank you.
Reviewers Illustrate the Answer to the Question, “What Is STEAM?”
Ariella Brown
Inspiring Girls with STEAM Power and the Model Renaissance Man. Interesting Engineering. July 22, 2019.
Excerpt: “Could a Renaissance man who excelled in all the areas encompassed by a STEAM curriculum inspire more girls to further their education in that area? The author of a new book believes the answer to that is yes. . . . While we are used to seeing the acronym, STEM for science, technology, engineering, and math, some have now taken to adding in an A for arts to be more inclusive of the creative and design aspects involved in innovation and development.”
Rosi Hollenbeck
Leonardo’s Science Workshop – Review. RosiHollenbeck.com. July 21, 2019.
Excerpt: “Sure, kids can learn to make paper airplanes, but they can also learn to make their own paper! They can learn ways to help save the planet and even how to make a comet. This is not the run-of-the-mill project book for little kids. This is a huge step above such books and does some serious teaching while allowing youngsters to to really expand their minds and build confidence in their abilities. The writing is lively, fun, interesting, and never talks down to its young audience.”
Drew Bennett
Leonardo’s Science Workshop by Heidi Olinger: a “Read to Me, Dad!” Review. October 15, 2019.
Excerpt: “Covering topics like physics, molecules, gravity, graphic design, and even recycling, Leonardo’s Science Workshop provides approachable explanations coupled with step-by-step experiment instructions anyone can perform at home or in the classroom. Whether you’re learning the logistics behind a bird in flight or designing wearable plastic fabrics, readers are guaranteed to glean a lesson in science and originality.”
* * *
Postscript: About the Feature Photo for this Post. As fun as it is to think, Leonardo da Vinci did not invent the bicycle. The sketch of a bike on the reverse of a page from one of Leonardo’s famous notebooks has been expertly determined to have been drawn in the 20th century, likely by a bored monk.
