author
Elmer Ellsworth Burns
1868–1956
Best known for writing clear, lively books about invention and physics, this Iowa-born teacher spent decades helping students see how science shaped everyday life. His work brought big ideas like electricity, radio, and industrial progress within reach of general readers.
1 Audiobook
The Story of Great Inventions
by Elmer Ellsworth Burns
About the author
Born in Iowa in 1868, Elmer Ellsworth Burns was an American educator as well as an author. Records connected to his books identify him as a longtime physics teacher in Chicago, and his writing shows the same classroom gift for making complicated subjects understandable.
He is especially associated with The Story of Great Inventions (1910), a readable survey of technological progress published by Harper & Brothers. Other works linked to him include books on electricity, radio, and physics, showing a sustained interest in explaining modern science in practical, approachable terms.
Burns died in 1956. Although he is not widely remembered today, his books capture an era when scientific discovery and invention were becoming part of everyday popular reading, and they still reflect the voice of a teacher eager to connect curiosity with real-world knowledge.