Generations of practical and ingenious Maritimers have given the word great things. Since the mid-nineteenth century, scientists have fanned out into the world from colleges and universities that are among the oldest in North America.

Great Maritime Achievers in Science and Technology brings together the achievements of more than 30 of these trail-blazing scientists and inventors, many of whom gained national and international prominence in the second half of the nineteenth century and the first half of the twentieth.

Among those profiled in the book are Grace Annie Lockhart, the first woman in the British Empire to earn a university science degree; Charles Fenerty, who discovered how to make paper out of wood; Abraham Gesner, who invented kerosene and fathered the petroleum industry; and others whose practical, yet creative minds helped change the course of Canada's scientific history.

George MacBeath received the Order of Canada in recognition of his dedication to the preservation and presentation of Canada's heritage. A graduate of the University of New Brunswick and the Sorbonne, Université de Paris, he was the first director of the Ontario Science Centre, a director of the New Brunswick Museum, and the deputy minister of Heritage for the New Brunswick government, where he was instrumental in the "construction" of the province's two major living heritage museums, Kings Landing and le Village Historique Acadien. His other books include New Brunswick: The Story of Our Province and Steamboat Days on the St. John: 1816-1946.

George MacBeath's profile page

"This illuminating little book is full of things you never knew about people you think you know... It also introduces you to people you might never have met... just plain fascinating, from beginning to end."

<i>Chronicle Herald</i>

"One of the strengths of the book is in the personal details of these gifted men's and women's lives... very enjoyable."

<i>Telegraph Journal</i>

"A welcome addition to the study of regional history in Atlantic Canada and contributes greatly to our understanding of the 19th and early 20th century's scientific breakthroughs in the Maritimes. It is hoped that a copy of Great Maritime Achievers will appear on bookshelves in all schools throughout the region."

<i>Times & Transcript</i>