Dylan Thuras
Dylan Thuras and Jennifer Swanson are the authors of The Atlas Obscura Explorer's Guide to Inventing the World: 50 Inventions & Discoveries, 94 Locations, a Globe-Spanning Adventure, a new book for kids.
Q: What inspired you to write this new Atlas Obscura guide?
Dylan: I have always loved the history of science, and I think people kind of live in a world very disconnected from the objects around them.
We tend to think of technology as “futuristic” things, but everything around us, chairs, the alphabet, cities, textiles are all technologies, and all connected in the big web of innovation and discovery. I want to give kids (and parents too) a way to explore that world and those connections!
Jennifer Swanson
Jennifer: For me, this book was the perfect way to describe how I think about science. I have loved science since I was little. True fact, I started a science club in my garage when I was 7 years old. Wherever I look, I see connections to science so it was very cool to be able to connect everything in the world through scientific inventions.
When I visit schools, one of my talks with the students is to see the science all around you. And I hope that is what this book inspires people to do—stop and acknowledge the science that is everywhere.
Q: How did you choose the inventions to include, and do you have any particular favorites?
Dylan: The outlining process was very hard! Because we wanted everything to connect, it made a unique challenge.
We could not just move in a straight line thought history or the book would be too short or get bogged down in some small invention, so we needed to include ways to double back. Like when we get to satellites we go back to maps, because satellites are dependent on this much older technology!
It meant that certain inventions just didn’t fit the flow. Like the wheel is not in the book! Is it important? Yes! But it didn’t fit easily in the flow (we aren’t sure what predates it, and it emerges in a very complex fashion) so it didn’t make the cut! Jen was enormously helpful in helping me make so many of these decisions!
Jennifer: Dylan was the one to pick most of the inventions, although I did suggest a few, too. It was really interesting seeing how Dylan made the connections between the inventions. We had a lot of discussions about where we should go forward and when we should bounce back in the past.
Q: What do you think Ruby Fresson’s illustrations add to the book?
Dylan: SO MUCH! I knew when I saw her portfolio it HAD to be her. The vintage, retro style, her work with colors--it just fit what I wanted to do so perfectly. I very much did not want it to feel “futuristic.”
She also went WAY above and beyond putting in little details and hidden secrets that surprised even me! The coast in the Pumps section is the coastline of the Netherlands! So many little codes and surprises tucked in the art were her ideas. She is truly amazing.
Jennifer: Ruby’s illustrations are simply STUNNING! As Dylan mentioned, there is so much depth to them and that only enhances the text on the page. The illustrations make you think! And they even interact with each other.
My favorite spread is the one about the printing press. The characters on page are using singular block print. One of them looks longingly at Gutenberg (on the other page) who is holding up his paper that was made much faster on his press. It’s brilliant!
Q: How did you research the book, and what did you learn that especially surprised you?
Dylan: Gah! Some of this was stuff I had long been interested in, so knew a bit about, other I had to do deep dives on to understand the connections or the technologies. It’s tough to boil down quantum computing, or cryptography to 150 words!
But much thanks to the brilliant Jen who helped me take some of these huge hard ideas and, like two blacksmiths, we just hammered and hammered until they had been distilled to their essence!
Jennifer: Research is my favorite part of writing any book. I am a very curious person and I love learning new things. The toughest part was the 150-word restriction. There was so much more to say about all of these inventions, but we had to leave room for the amazing illustrations. Dylan was great about distilling the most important information into small chunks.
Q: What are you working on now?
Dylan: Another book! Working on a faster turn kids series that is slated to start releasing early 2026, and a big adult book, part of our series called America Obscura slated for Summer 2026! I also host a podcast, The Atlas Obscura Podcast, which is the number one travel podcast, and work on a host of other things at Atlas Obscura where I am the co-founder and creative director!
Jennifer: I have a new book coming out this fall called 3 Weeks in the Rainforest: A Rapid Inventory in the Amazon (Charlesbridge Publishing). It follows a group of awesome scientists from The Field Museum in Chicago as they work to help protect the Amazon Rainforest.
And next up, I’ve begun researching my book How To Talk to an Alien! It’s going to be an interactive look into astrobiology, astrogeology, and linguistics. So fun!
Q: Anything else we should know?
Dylan: I don’t like bananas.
Jennifer: Despite loving science, I’m not very good at growing plants.
--Interview with Deborah Kalb. Here's a previous Q&A with Jennifer Swanson.
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