A CURIOUS MIND AND A VERY BIG HEART

A habit of careful observation led to the design of today’s N95 medical masks.

Born in 1917 in Brooklyn to Russian Jewish parents, Sara Little Turnbull (nee Finkelstein) paid close attention to small details, like the skin of an onion or the shape of an egg. Working as an editor for House Beautiful and a product designer, she traveled the world for inspiration. Noticing the unwieldy medical masks in the hospital where her sister was being treated for cancer in the 1940s, she designed an alternative that in 1995 was developed into the N95 mask. Lewis makes this fact the climax for an appealingly illustrated but cursory biography. Readers might be intrigued by examples of Turnbull’s creations, such as an upside-down watch pinned to her shirt, “light-as-air space suits,” “good-for-kids sweets,” and a more functional pot lid inspired by a cheetah’s grip on its prey. But they will have to look elsewhere to learn that the pot was part of the ubiquitous CorningWare. Well-composed visuals make vibrant use of texture, elegantly set against white backdrops. One spread highlights an inspirational poster that the writer explains is “a reminder that mistakes can help you grow,” though a more specific example of mistakes in Turnbull’s life would have helped readers understand her mindset, as quoted in backmatter: “Ninety percent of my career was made up of failure, but failure is not defeat….” (This book was reviewed digitally.)

Slight and sketchy.