Herman Schneider (1905-2003) Biography

OBITUARY NOTICE—See index for SATA sketch: Born May 31, 1905, in Kreschov, Poland; died July 31, 2003, in Boston, MA. Educator and author. Schneider is best remembered as the author of dozens of science books for children and teenagers. After immigrating with his family to America from Poland, he was educated at the Free Academy (now City College of the City University of New York), where he earned a B.S. in 1928 and an M.S. in 1930. He began teaching in New York City public schools in 1928, becoming a science supervisor in 1948, and from 1941 to 1946 he was also an instructor at Bank Street College. Schneider began publishing science books for children in the 1940s, many of them cowritten with his wife, Nina. Among these titles are How Big Is Big?: From Stars to Atoms, a Yardstick for the Universe (1946; revised edition, 1959), Rocks, Rivers, and the Changing Earth: A First Book about Geology (1952), Science around You (1966), and Secret Magnets (1979). He also wrote a number of books by himself, such as Everyday Machines and How They Work (1950) and Laser Light (1978), the latter winning the award for best science book for teenagers from the New York Academy of Sciences. In addition to teaching and writing, Schneider served as a consultant for filmstrips published by University Films, Inc.