Profiles are organized around a movement, event, or profession that has had a significant, lasting impact on American history and contemporary life. Essential biographical information is included for each figure, but the heart of each profile describes the critical achievements and contributions of the individual under consideration and assesses the subject's significance, not only in the context of the person's own lifetime, but in the broader sweep of American history.

Placing each figure's achievements and contributions in a historical context makes each profile the ideal source for preparing reports. Students can use this framework as a basis for comparisons and contrasts, which will given them a better understanding of how individuals shape, and are shaped by, the times in which they live.

Profiles include: Flossie Wong-Staal; Chien-shiung Wu, Tsung Dao Lee, and Chen Ning Yang; Constance Tom Noguchi; David Da-i Ho; Paul Ching-wu Chu; Samuel Chao Chung Ting; Har Gobind Khorana; Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar; Susumu Tonegawa; and Tsutomo Shimomura.