American Inventors.

From the steam engine to the Barbie doll, Americans have long innovated out of necessity, opportunity, and circumstance. The following books, from memoirs to novels, shed light on some well known--and lesser known--American inventors and the spirit of innovation. We've also included a section on international inventors, real and imagined, for younger readers. While scientific discoveries and inventions--for example, the building of the atomic bomb and the modeling of DNA--play a large role in this history, we've focused less on scientific breakthroughs and more on mechanical and electrical innovation. The fascinating history of scientific discoveries will be the subject of a future "What One Book."

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Overviews

They Made America

From the Steam Engine to the Search Engine

By Harold Evans (2006)

This large-format book, developed in conjunction with a 2004 PBS series, offers an elegant, broad overview of 70 of America's leading inventors. Evans, author of The American Century, profiles both the obvious--Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, the Colt revolver, the cotton gin--and the less so, including Joan Ganz Cooney (Children's Television Workshop), Ida Rosenthal (Maidenform Bra), and DRI's Gary Kildall (overshadowed by Bill Gates and Microsoft). Evans also covers the latest generation of inventors, such as Google's Larry Page and Sergey Brin. Arguing that innovation both results from and contributes to American culture, Evans offers a unique perspective on our society--one filled with faith in technology, perseverance, and, above all, innovation.

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Patently Female

From AZT to TV Dinners, Stories of Women Inventors and Their Breakthrough Ideas

By Ethlie Ann Vare and Greg Ptacek (2001)

In this sequel to Mothers of Invention: From the Bra to the Bomb (1988), the authors introduce inventions by women--from the relatively frivolous (frozen pizza) to the arguably more serious (the astrolabe, the hang glider, Mars Rover, the PDA, windshield wipers, the cordless phone, and, of course, the drip coffeemaker). They argue that women have been at the forefront of innovation out of necessity: Bessie Smith, a single mother, invented Liquid Paper while working as a secretary. Nonetheless, women's achievements have, overall, largely been ignored. This book, a fast, easy read that can be sampled at leisure, fills the void in this history.

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Memoirs

The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin

By Benjamin Franklin (1791)

Besides his role as a diplomat and Founding Father, Franklin was a prodigious inventor. Self-taught, he experimented with the lightning rod, bifocal glasses, and the Franklin stove--but he patented none, since he believed that "we should be glad of an opportunity to serve others by any invention of ours; and this we should do freely and generously." Franklin also describes his childhood, his work as a printer and a scientist, his social and public works projects, and his role in the Indian War (the unfinished Autobiography ends in 1757). Written originally to guide his son, the Autobiography is as influential and fascinating today as it was when it was first published. Walter Isaacson captures Franklin's complex relationships and extraordinary achievements in Benjamin Franklin: An American Life (2003).

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My Inventions

The Autobiography of Nikola Tesla

By Nikola Tesla (1919; 1982)

The Croatian-born inventor and mechanical and electrical engineer immigrated to the United States in 1891, at age 35. Described as one of the first inventors of the modern age, he revolutionized the field of electricity and magnetism, invented high frequency alternating current/AC power, and contributed to the fields of radio, television, and missile science. Here, he shares his inspiration--including the blinding flashes of light and insight he experienced while ill. Tesla also describes his friendship with Mark Twain and his notorious rivalry with Thomas Edison. My Inventions is a good, if intense, starting point for understanding Tesla's genius. For the definitive biography, turn to Margaret Cheney's absorbing Tesla: Man Out of Time (2001).

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My Life and Work

An Autobiography of Henry Ford

By Henry Ford (1922)

This autobiography of the founder of Ford Motor Company delves deep inside the personal and professional mind of a man who changed the world by mass producing his own invention. Ford not only details his vision, strategies, and management philosophies, but also describes his personal life. Some of the most interesting chapters prophecy our current age of globalization: Ford predicted that economic and technical development would progress to a point in which colonial models would be rendered obsolete. He also understood principles of cost, supply, and demand; labor relations and wages; debt; and leadership. Above all, Ford encourages his audience to invest in themselves. For a definitive biography, see Steven Watts's The People's Tycoon: Henry Ford and the American Century (2005).

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The Spirit of St. Louis

By Charles A. Lindbergh (1953)

* PULITZER PRIZE

Lindbergh, an American aviator and inventor, captured the world's attention in 1927 when he embarked on his solo, nonstop, trans-Atlantic flight from New York to Paris in his single-engine plane, Spirit of St. Louis. Although the Lone Eagle was a controversial political figure--his involvement in World War II remains highly contended--he was a man of singular vision. Here, he recounts the building of his plane and preparation of his trip, and offers an edge-of-your-seat account of the actual flight. His story also provides historical context--the open cockpits, the excitement of witnessing a plane fly overhead, and the lack of reliable scientific information to guide his journey. Overall, Lindbergh brings to life the thrill and danger of his journey, a grand adventure for readers of all kinds. For the definitive biography, see Scott Berg's Lindbergh (1998).

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iWoz

Computer Geek to Cult Icon

How I Invented the Personal Computer, Co-Founded Apple, and Had Fun Doing It

By Steve Wozniak with Gina Smith (2007)

Wozniak, the founder of Apple Computer, Inc., chronicles his personal journey from childhood to the creation of the user-friendly Apple I and Apple II and beyond. Throughout, his thinking processes, personality, and creativity shine through--the latter influenced by his father and cultivated as he experimented with technology and learned how to translate his vision into a product. His advice? Follow your instincts. Although this memoir veers toward the technical, sidebars explain the technology to lay readers. Overall, iWoz is a lively, warm personal story about the engineer as artist.

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Biographies

On Her Own Ground

The Life and Times of Madam C. J. Walker

By A'Lelia Bundles (2002)

Bundles, a television journalist, is also the great-great-granddaughter of C. J. Walker--the daughter of freed slaves who, with her design of popular hair-care products for black women and brilliant marketing techniques, became the nation's first black female millionaire. In this best seller, Bundles details how Madam Walker built her workforce of black women at a time when most of these women were domestics, her involvement in black educational institutions, and her role in black politics. All her stories shed light on race relations, business practices, and social norms in the early 20th century. Although Madam Walker left few written traces of her life, Bundles has written an affectionate, inspiring portrait of a daring woman who overcame racism and sexism.

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Barbie and Ruth

The Story of the World's Most Famous Doll and the Woman Who Created Her

By Robin Gerber (2009)

Gerber, the author of biographies focusing on leadership (Eleanor Roosevelt, Katharine Graham), sheds new light on Ruth Handler, cofounder of the Mattel Company, and her 1959 creation of Barbie, and boyfriend Ken, both named after her own two children, which ignited a gender revolution of sorts. Gerber sheds light on Handler's life--the child of Polish-Jewish immigrants, her marriage, her rise and exit from Mattel in the 1970s after fraudulent business endeavors, and her son's battle with AIDS. Throughout the book, a creative, passionate, and dedicated entrepreneur, wife, and mother shine through.

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Empires of Light

Edison, Tesla, Westinghouse, and the Race to Electrify the World

By Jill Jonnes (2003)

Jonnes offers a compelling profile of three late 19th-century visionaries--Thomas Edison (the inventor), Nikola Tesla (the visionary theoretician), and George Westinghouse (the industrialist and engineer)--and their race to create an electrical empire. Jonnes explores the science, the politics, the ruthless competition, and the forces of Wall Street. Indeed, the book is as much about Gilded Age business as science, and Jonnes sets the mood with period pieces such as the Niagara Falls power plant and the 1893 Columbia Exposition. About investors, start-ups, and intellectual property wars, this balanced and entertaining story is as relevant today as it was 100 years ago. FURTHER READING The Wizard of Menlo Park: How Thomas Alva Edison Invented the Modern World by Randall E. Stross (2007) and The Power Makers: Steam, Electricity, and the Men Who Invented Modern America by Maury Klein (2008).

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To Conquer the Air

The Wright Brothers and the Great Race for Flight

By James Tobin (2004)

Tobin, an award-winning biographer, offers a detailed, riveting, and sympathetic look at the Wright brothers' attempts at human flight. He charts their origins as bicycle shop owners from Dayton, Ohio, and weaves in their relationships with friends, colleagues, and competitors, including the Smithsonian's Samuel Langley. Of course, their pursuit was not without difficulties, but their endeavors triumphed in their flight over Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, in 1903 and in Wilbur Wright's 1909 flight over Manhattan. Tobin shares the technologies, the challenges, and the awe and skepticism shared by the public. This definitive history brings the origins of human flight to life.

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The Telephone Gambit

Chasing Alexander Graham Bell's Secret

By Seth Shulman

In this historical whodunit combining intrigue, subterfuge, and love, Shulman claims that the telephone's invention might properly be credited not to Alexander Graham Bell, but to Elisha Gray, a talented Ohio inventor who filed his patent for the device on the same day as Bell. Gray held a missing piece to the puzzle--a piece that his otherwise scrupulous rival seems to have obtained through deception in what Shulman deems "a stunning fissure in the polished facade of Bell's legacy." Drawing on research from Bell's own notebooks and other sources, Shulman discredits Bell's claim to the telephone as he combines deft sleuthing and a nose for a good story. (**** Mar/Apr 2008)

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Hard Drive

Bill Gates and the Making of the Microsoft Empire

By James Wallace and Jim Erickson (1993)

In this expose of the computer industry, the authors, Seattle Post-Intelligencer reporters, offer a compelling profile of the chairman and founder of Microsoft. As they delve into Gates's youth--he was a computer genius prep school kid who dropped out of Harvard--they recount the founding of Microsoft against the context of the larger computer and software industry. The competition with Apple, Xerox, and IBM come alive as the authors examine Gates's psychology. Although now dated, the book is a good starting place for readers hoping to understand the business of innovation. The lesson? There's no such thing as instant gratification. See also Robert X. Cringely's Accidental Empires: How the Boys of Silicon Valley Make Their Millions, Battle Foreign Competition, and Still Can't Get a Date (1991).

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Fiction

The Lightning Keeper

By Starling Lawrence

In this sequel to Montenegro (1997), Harriet Bigelow, the young heiress to an ironworks dynasty, crosses paths with Toma Pekocevic, who has fled the Balkans, in pre--World War I New York. Love ignites as Toma vows to help Harriet save her father's company from financial ruin. Inspired by Nikola Tesla's theories regarding electric power, Toma designs a water turbine to produce electricity. Soon, growing industrial giant General Electric becomes interested in Toma's invention, with the idea of blanketing every home in America with electricity. But as World War I approaches, conflicting loyalties intervene. (**** SELECTION July/Aug 2006)

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The Invention of Everything Else

By Samantha Hunt

Shortly before Nikola Tesla's death in 1943, Louisa, a young chambermaid, befriends the eccentric inventor, who is living at the Hotel New Yorker. Louisa's father, assisted by a mysterious mechanic who may be from the future, hopes to use a time machine to visit his deceased wife. Woven into Louisa's story are episodes from the Serbian-born inventor's life, including his apprenticeship under Edison (later a bitter rival), the world's failure to credit him for the invention of radio, and the Nobel Committee's decision to withdraw his prize in physics. New York of the 1940s provides a backdrop for what becomes an exploration of Tesla's life and an unusual examination of love. (**** May/June 2008)

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For Younger Readers

Inventing Modern America

From the Microwave to the Mouse

By David E. Brown (2003)

In this accessible and engaging survey that seems aimed toward young adults, the authors profile 35 American inventors in various fields, including medicine, transportation, and computing. They cover not only big names like Henry Ford and George Washington Carver but also focus on inventors such as Garrett Morgan, the son of former slaves who invented the gas mask and the traffic signal; Raymond Damadian, whose experiments produced the MRI; and Stephanie Kwolek, a chemist who invented Kevlar. All stories speak to hard work, perseverance, and not a small amount of luck.

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The Wright Brothers

How They Invented the Airplane

By Russell Freedman (1991)

* NEWBERY HONOR

Newbery and National Humanities Medal winner Freedman, best known for his biographies for younger readers, casts the Wright brothers as heroes. Drawing on letters, journals, and photographs taken by Wilbur and Orville (which play a large role in the narrative), Freedman explains the history of early aviation, the quirky brothers' childhood, and their dream, realized only through tireless perseverance. Even for adults, this is one of the best short histories of the period. AGES 9 AND UP

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The Invention of Hugo Cabret

By Brian Selznick (2007)

* CALDECOTT MEDAL

* NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST

A novel told in words and charcoal illustrations, Invention explores magic, storytelling, and human creativity. Hugo, a 12-year-old orphan and apprentice clock keeper, lives in the walls of a train depot in 1930s Paris. His deceased father, who had worked in a museum, had once shown him a robot--and Hugo eventually reclaims the automaton. The story is as much about invention as it is about the history of photography and film and a rumination on one boy's relationship to his father, a toy seller, and the toy seller's goddaughter. AGES 9-12

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Ben and Me

An Astonishing Life of Benjamin Franklin by His Good Mouse Amos

By Robert Lawson (1939)

In this tongue-and-cheek biography of Benjamin Franklin, the inspiration for Ben's inventions and discoveries, including electricity and the Franklin Stove, is no less than Amos, a rather pompous rodent. According to Amos, Ben is "undeniably stupid at times," so Amos forms a partnership with Ben that allows these two great minds to live and work together--and, of course, for Ben to found the nation. Ben and Me is one of the more entertaining "biographies" of the Founding Father. AGES 9-12

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The Great Wheel

By Robert Lawson (1957)

* NEWBERY HONOR

In the 1890s, Irish-born Conn Kilroy, after his aunt predicts that he'll ride the biggest wheel in the world, leaves Ireland for the United States. When he arrives in New York, he works for his uncle but is soon hired to join the crew that is building the immense Ferris wheel--Ferris's Folly--for the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition. Lawson, a widely acclaimed children's author and illustrator, illuminates the construction of the original Ferris Wheel, and also provides a sense of immigrant culture. AGES 9-12

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A Case of Curiosities

By Allen Kurzweil (1992)

In 18th-century Switzerland, the young Claude Page, after losing a finger, is adopted by a generous benefactor and starts to work part-time enameling pornographic watchcases for Parisian clients. When things take a turn for the worse, Claude apprentices to a Parisian bookseller and embarks on more bawdy adventures. They are, however, secondary to his mechanical genius and daring inventions, which culminate in the Talking Turk, an automaton that leads to an extremely bizarre execution in the French Revolution. The novel--fun, accessible, and imaginative--sheds light on prerevolutionary France. AGES 12-ADULT

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Carver

A Life in Poems

By Marilyn Nelson (2002)

* NEWBERY HONOR

* CORETTA SCOTT KING HONOR

George Washington Carver, the famed African American botanist and inventor, is perhaps best known to children for inventing peanut butter (and hundreds of household products that used peanuts). But this book, told through lyrical poems, paints a much richer background of the man--from a slave to his intellectual curiosity and spirituality and his rise as head of the agricultural department at the Tuskegee Institute. The book also effectively portrays the climate of 19th and early 20th-century racism. AGES 12 AND UP

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