About Buoyancy Books
Books can do more when they’re free to travel.
Buoyancy Books is an experiment in creating and sharing books differently.
Our goal is simple: help as many people as possible.
We started with a principle we want to keep even as Buoyancy Books grows:
Robert’s great-aunt had a saying that became part of the thinking behind Buoyancy Books: follow your heart and you’ll have enough money; follow the money and you may lose your heart.
That’s why our digital books are free to read. Printed editions are available for people who want a physical book, but buying a book shouldn’t be the price of admission to an idea.
We also believe good ideas can come from anywhere.
Readers, parents, children, educators, scientists, healthcare professionals, writers, artists, and other curious people are invited to help us improve existing books and imagine new ones. A useful contribution might be a new idea, a better explanation, a scientific correction, a few words, an illustration, a translation—or something none of us has thought of yet.
When contributions become part of our published work, we want the people behind them to be recognized. Substantial creative contributions may also share in the financial success of the printed books they help create.
Inspired by others
We didn’t invent open and collaborative publishing.
Organizations around the world have already demonstrated what can happen when children’s books and educational ideas are made more accessible. Projects including Book Dash, Pratham Books and StoryWeaver, African Storybook, and Storyberries have helped inspire our thinking.
We’re exploring our own version of that idea: free digital access, community participation, careful editorial review, and a way for substantial contributors to participate in the success of what they help create.
Where We’re Starting.
Oak the Orca Thinks About Gravity is where we’re starting.
It’s a book for kids and adults about an orca wondering about gravity, buoyancy, astronauts, humans, and what it means to float.
But Oak is also an experiment.
What happens when we publish a book, let everyone read it for free, invite people to make it better, and see where the ideas go?
We don’t know yet.
That’s part of the fun.
Who We Are
Buoyancy Books was created by people from different backgrounds who share a belief that useful ideas should be accessible to everyone.
Robert Savinelli, PhD — Creative Director
Chemist, writer, and co-creator of Buoyancy Books. Robert leads the creative direction of the project and the development of its stories and ideas.
Joseph Tu, MD — Director of Human Impact
Physician and co-creator of Buoyancy Books. Joseph focuses on how the ideas and projects we create can have a meaningful, positive impact on people’s lives.
Whatever floats your boat.