Book Description
At the height of his fame Thomas Alva Edison was hailed as “the Napoleon of invention” and blazed in the public imagination as a virtual demigod. Newspapers proclaimed his genius in glowing personal profiles and quipped that “the doctor has been called” because the great man “has not invented anything since breakfast.” Starting with the first public demonstrations of the phonograph in 1878 and extending through the development of incandescent light, a power generation and distribution system to sustain it, and the first motion picture cameras—all achievements more astonishing in their time than we can easily grasp today—Edison’s name became emblematic of all the wonder and promise of the emerging age of technological marvels.
But as Randall Stross makes clear in this critical biography of the man who is arguably the most globally famous of all Americans, Thomas Edison’s greatest invention may have been his own celebrity. Edison was certainly a technical genius, but Stross excavates the man from layers of myth-making and separates his true achievements from his almost equally colossal failures. How much credit should Edison receive for the various inventions that have popularly been attributed to him—and how many of them resulted from both the inspiration and the perspiration of his rivals and even his own assistants? How much of Edison’s technical skill helped him overcome a lack of business acumen and feel for consumers’ wants and needs?
This bold reassessment of Edison’s life and career answers these and many other important questions while telling the story of how he came upon his most famous inventions as a young man and spent the remainder of his long life trying to conjure similar success. We also meet his partners and competitors, presidents and entertainers, his close friend Henry Ford, the wives who competed with his work for his attention, and the children who tried to thrive in his shadow—all providing a fuller view of Edison’s life and times than has ever been offered before. The Wizard of Menlo Park reveals not only how Edison worked, but how he managed his own fame, becoming the first great celebrity of the modern age.
Customer Reviews:
The Man Behind the Myth.......2007-07-01
Thomas Alva Edison was probably the greatest inventor of all time. However, he was also one of the worst businessman to ever run a business. Yes, he invented the phonograph, but then was beaten in the market by the Victor company because he micromanaged the decisions for the selection of the artists to record. In fact, initially, he wanted to use his invention as a dictation device. Many consider him to be the inventor of electricity and the light bulb, and yet, many inventors were working on this at the same time. And, ultimately, Westinghouse beat his company in the market because he pursued the more costly direct current while they pursued the more cost efficient alternating current. Alternating current is what is used today. His life was that of a creative genius who pursued what he was interested in and not what was important to the market, thereby missing many opportunities. However, pursuing what he was interested in resulted in great advances in many fields that were important in the development of the modern world. I think the most important statement of his importance to our world was provided when the US government requested that all people turn off their lights at the time of his funeral in 1931. He was very important to the modern world, but the myths that arose since his death, that resulted in him being close to a deity, were not correct. This book provides the man behind the myth, doing in a very credible and readable fashion. Consequently, I highly recommend this book.
Excellent Re-Look at An American Icon.......2007-04-19
The Wizard of Menlo Park is an reexamination of the life and career of one of the most famous American inventors, Thomas Alva Edison.
It is a myth that Thomas Edison is the sole inventor of the lightbulb. In any event, it was not even his most famous invention. That honor goes to the phonograph that singlehandedly set the stage for the development of the modern music insustry.
Thomas Edison lacked the kind of business acumen that was needed for him to capitalize on his being the pioneer of sound recording. Edison failed to capitalize on his fame. He allowed himself to be distracted from his work to the point that he allowed his lab to become a popular tourist destination.
Although Edison was a remarkable man who was rightfully credited with many useful inventions, the hype surrounding him has actually obscured his real creativity.
This is an excellent book.
The Wizard Invents Himself.......2007-04-17
The greatest American inventor, most would agree, was Thomas Alva Edison, but it may be that his greatest invention was himself, as image in the newspapers and as "Thomas A. Edison", a phrase that was an important addition to any marketable gadget. In _The Wizard of Menlo Park: How Thomas Edison Invented the Modern World_ (Crown), Randall Stross has looked at the mechanical and electric inventions, few of which Edison single-handedly originated or developed, but has concentrated mostly on his fame. "Once brought into being," Stross writes, "Edison's image inhabited its own life and acted autonomously in ways that its namesake could not control." Stross, a historian who is a professor of business, makes the case that Edison discovered the importance of the application of celebrity to business. We had celebrities before, of course, presidents and generals, and contemporary with Edison were famous figures like Mark Twain and P. T. Barnum. Edison's celebrity exceeded them all, and oddly, he was famous because he was an inventor. When celebrity came to him, he was not an inventor who had made a practical gadget like a cotton gin, a telegraph, or an elevator; he had invented (and had come far short of perfecting) the phonograph. It was the celebrity from this particular machine that carried him through many ups and downs in his long life.
This is not a complete biography, but a welcome look at particular qualities of Edison's celebrity and its effects on his life and business practices. Edison jumped from the most modern technology of the time, telegraphy, and was working on improved telephones, not on voice recording in 1877. The world was dazzled by the prospect of a machine that could talk, but the phonograph sat in its unperfected form for another ten years as he went about other projects, and this was despite a clamor for the machine and an elevation of Edison in the public mind to "mythic inventor hero". Edison was happiest when he was tinkering wherever his whimsy carried him; he was good at coming up with new ideas, bad at working on perfecting them, and terrible at making them pay. He understood the importance of his fame, and used it, although he could not control all the ways others put it to use or all the ways that it took time out of his other activities. He made himself available to the press, and reporters loved interviewing the plain-talking inventor who would chew tobacco throughout such visits. He loved the role of wise advisor, and the press liked him to pontificate on all sorts of matters that had nothing to do with his areas of expertise, like diet.
Edison was no charlatan. Even though he took credit when it actually belonged to those who worked for him, and even though the public insisted on crediting him for inventions others had perfected, he did have a real role in innovating gadgets. As time went on (he lived until 1931) and his public persona as a wizard continued, people tended to forget his many failures; all of his most famous inventions were early in his career, and all amounted to little while he was the one in control of their manufacture and marketing. It would be unfair to judge him just on his earnings, but one of his sons was probably right when he bitterly complained, "You should have been... a millionaire 10 times over if you knew how to handle your own achievements." Such a skill was not within his wizardry, however. Stross shows that Edison could not focus on a new project and bring it to commercial fruition without getting distracted by other endeavors, and that often the distracting endeavor was that of making himself a celebrity. He was wildly successful in this, but it proved to be a strain that he could not enjoy or control. Stross sums up: "Edison failed to invent a way to free himself from unrealistic expectations produced by his own past."
Thomas Edison is human........2007-04-04
The author brings Thomas Edison to life in these pages exposing all of his brilliance, ineptness, and stubborness. No one can doubt the genius that is Edison, while at the same time appreciating all of the business opportunities lost due to his quirks of personality and failure to recognize them when they are right before his eyes.
It is a fascinating look at someone who I have admired for years from reading about his accomplishments, but now I feel I know him as a person. I had a hard time putting the book down. A must read for anyone and especially people who are innovative and entrepreneurial.
Genius is what genius does.......2007-03-20
Having met a genius in gambling - the Captain - I have become fascinated in what makes certain men or women reach such high levels of achievement. This is a stunningly excellent book that will rivet you to its pages.
Frank Scoblete: author of Golden Touch Blackjack Revolution! and Golden Touch Dice Control Revolution!
Book Description
The mastermind behind Apple sheds his low profile and steps forward to tell his story for the first time.
Before cell phones that fit in the palm of your hand and slim laptops that fit snugly into briefcases, computers were like strange, alien vending machines. They had cryptic switches, punch cards and pages of encoded output. But in 1975, a young engineering wizard named Steve Wozniak had an idea: What if you combined computer circuitry with a regular typewriter keyboard and a video screen? The result was the first true personal computer, the Apple I, a widely affordable machine that anyone could understand and figure out how to use.
Wozniak's life—before and after Apple—is a "home-brew" mix of brilliant discovery and adventure, as an engineer, a concert promoter, a fifth-grade teacher, a philanthropist, and an irrepressible prankster. From the invention of the first personal computer to the rise of Apple as an industry giant, iWoz presents a no-holds-barred, rollicking, firsthand account of the humanist inventor who ignited the computer revolution. 16 pages of illustrations.
Customer Reviews:
Get to know THE man.......2007-09-26
It's Woz, how can you go wrong? I really enjoyed this book, although I would have enjoyed it a little more if Woz told more up-to-date stories. I know he has a ton, and I was really hoping to learn much more about Woz TODAY. Still, if you want to read about one of the most important people in Computer history, this is a good start.
Disappointed.......2007-08-30
Steve Wozniak is interesting because he helped found Apple. This book is not about that time in his life. It covers it, but only minimally. Less than a quarter of the book covers this time period. In fact, it is over half done before Apple even really gets mentioned. Instead, this book is about Steve Wozniak himself. It's about his high school science projects, his pranks, and his philosophy of life. Steve is a little different than other people and it comes through in this book. He talks very highly of his accomplishments and often frames them as more important or unique than they really were. He did good work, but not all of what he claims he was first to do was he truly first.
I love Steve Wozniak, but this book was just too much about the small things in his life to be interesting to me.
Fun and interesting.......2007-08-12
This is a very enjoyable book that tells a fascinating story, one most of us are only vaguely familiar with. Wozniak comes off likeable. There are laugh out loud segments. You don't have to understand all the computer stuff (although the writer makes the stuff understandable)to grasp the thrill of the ride.
A must read for every engineer.......2007-08-01
Its a book with which you can relate to very easily if you're an engineer. At the end it gets boring when he starts talking about how Apple became big but its the part on how he starts off and how difficult it was for him to get to making computers that makes for a very interesting read. Certainly a book I would recommend every engineer to read!
An interesting overview of the history, but a tad banal.......2007-07-17
The story Woz is telling is engaging and makes iWoz a very enjoyable read, but the structure of the book itself and the method of telling his story just feels like it's either being told to an eight year old or it feels like the author needs to write the subject down to a very basic level. iWoz is filled with phrases like, "I was so proud," "We were so excited," and "I was very excited." Even I feel redundant and excessive just mentioning it but I'm not exaggerating to say that nearly every topic includes several statements like this. As other reviews have said, it doesn't take long - only a few paragraphs - to feel like Woz is bragging and the book is just an expression of ego.
If you can look over this, it is an entertaining overview of his life as an engineer, the early days of personal computing and the beginnings of Apple.
Book Description
In Tesla: Man Out of Time, Margaret Cheney explores the brilliant and prescient mind of one of the twentieth century's greatest scientists and inventors. Called a madman by his enemies, a genius by others, and an enigma by nearly everyone, Nikola Tesla was, without a doubt, a trailblazing inventor who created astonishing, sometimes world-transforming devices that were virtually without theoretical precedent. Tesla not only discovered the rotating magnetic field -- the basis of most alternating-current machinery -- but also introduced us to the fundamentals of robotics, computers, and missile science. Almost supernaturally gifted, unfailingly flamboyant and neurotic, Tesla was troubled by an array of compulsions and phobias and was fond of extravagant, visionary experimentations. He was also a popular man-about-town, admired by men as diverse as Mark Twain and George Westinghouse, and adored by scores of society beauties.
From Tesla's childhood in Yugoslavia to his death in New York in the 1940s, Cheney paints a compelling human portrait and chronicles a lifetime of discoveries that radically altered -- and continue to alter -- the world in which we live. Tesla: Man Out of Time is an in-depth look at the seminal accomplishments of a scientific wizard and a thoughtful examination of the obsessions and eccentricities of the man behind the science.
Customer Reviews:
I agree with Carlberg.......2007-09-15
My title says it all. I just wanted to make sure that there was more balance to this book review.
Great Read .......2007-09-05
This is a great book. I never new much about Tesla and now my whole world has changed.
a work of love.......2007-08-15
Tesla was shoulder to shoulder with Newton, leibniz and Einstein. This one man was responsible for the 20th century. Wireless, as in internet, the radio, Alternating Current, Neon and fluorescent light, energy transmission without wires - this guy seems like he came from another world. Margaret obviously loves Tesla and it is hard to blame her. After the idiot Edison did every horrible thing he could do to destroy Tesla because of Edison's rival Direct Current, including, possibly having Tesla's lab burnt down amongst other devious acts. When Margaret wrote this book, Tesla wasn't wildly popular as he is in
the oughts. There are more coherent books out there on Tesla, but this book is a work of love. Good going Margaret.
very informative.......2007-05-14
a great look into the past of one of, if not the greatest inventors of all time.i learned soo much about tesla i didn't know.you won't believe how many inventions still being used today, and some not yet used were from him.a must have.
On the Shoulders of Giants.......2007-04-21
It is hard to imagine that there is anyone who does not know the names Edison and Einstein. The same should be true of Nikola Tesla, the inventor of the alternating current motor, radio, X-rays, radar and more, yet somehow Tesla's name has slipped into history, largely forgotten. As Margaret Cheney reveals in "Tesla: Man Out of Time", there are several reasons that Tesla's legacy has suffered: he didn't market himself as well as Edison, and he left no wife or children to promote his interests after his death. Although a naturalized American citizen, his ashes were returned to Croatia, the land of his birth, as were also his papers and writings. A world war and a cold war later entombed his memory.
Bizarrely enigmatic yet definitely brilliant, Nikola Tesla is one of the giants of science. He was an under-educated inventor who explored the nature and properties of electricity with a rare vision and trial and error. He was lauded in his time, an on-and-off national hero, but could do little as his patents were raided by other inventors. His life is fascinating and worthy of study. Margaret Cheney took the initiative to pull together all the separate, obscure treatises on his life and weave them together into one complete narrative, but her delivery is dry and her narrative devices stumble. She, for instance, tries to create suspense and expectation by presenting portions of Tesla's life out of sequence, by referencing back to journal entries or setting up cause and effect relationships between present and past events. These devices don't work and leave the reader confused as to why, suddenly, a decade or more has passed in Tesla's life. She also laces the narrative with Tesla's science--the properties of electricity--with no explanation at all. Why were alternating current motors so important? Just what the heck WAS a Tesla coil? What does electricity jumping an air gap do? If you do not already know the answers to these questions, this book will not answer them for you. But even though the narrative is clumsy and dry, "Tesla: Man Out of Time" still stands as a good, single-volume study of Tesla's life.
Amazon.com
The thorniest scientific problem of the eighteenth century was how to determine longitude. Many thousands of lives had been lost at sea over the centuries due to the inability to determine an east-west position. This is the engrossing story of the clockmaker, John "Longitude" Harrison, who solved the problem that Newton and Galileo had failed to conquer, yet claimed only half the promised rich reward.
Book Description
During the great ages of exploration, "the longitude problem" was the gravest of all scientific challenges. Lacking the ability to determine their longitude, sailors were literally lost at sea as soon as they lost sight of land. Ships ran aground on rocky shores; those traveling well-known routes were easy prey to pirates.
In 1714, England's Parliament offered a huge reward to anyone whose method of measuring longitude could be proven successful. The scientific establishment--from Galileo to Sir Isaac Newton--had mapped the heavens in its certainty of a celestial answer. In stark contrast, one man, John Harrison, dared to imagine a mechanical solution--a clock that would keep precise time at sea, something no clock had been able to do on land. And the race was on....
Customer Reviews:
An Unexpected "Couldn't Put it Down".......2007-10-16
A "simple" invention that literally opened the world and a man who spent his entire life figuring our how to make it happen, made for a fantastic story ... and a rare book that I really couldn't put down.
Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time.......2007-08-31
A mediocre book , the author clearly has no scientific knowlegde and drags the story out as if it was a Soap opera . No diagrams / drawings / patent descriptions are included , meagre technical information . NOT worth the effort of reading . this publication is an insult to the intelligence . ABSOLUTE RUBBISH . ( and I have read it ). William Asquith .
An interesting read, but not exceptional........2007-06-27
Dava Sobel's 'Longitude' makes for a quick, light read. The story covers an interesting slice of history, but Longitude hardy distinguishes itself as being a great book. The largest problem is that the "lone genius who solved the greatest scientific problem of his time," John Harrison, is not a man about whom very much is known. Everything that is known about him could be fitted onto one of the (paperback) book's 175 pages. It's a bit remarkable that Sobel was able to milk a book from minimal and disjointed known facts. The story is really about the longitude problem itself, and the Harrison 'enemies' long-running success in undermining Harrison's solution, a precision chronometer that could maintain accuracy under the widely varied environmental conditions encountered by mariners.
Sobel's 'Galileo's Daughter: A Historical Memoir of Science, Faith, and Love,' is, in every way, a better book. For those interested in a fast-paced historical exposition of "a lone genius" advancing science but meeting maddening resistance from England's celebrity scientific elite (yes, it's a theme that parallels Sobel's 'Longitude'), by all means secure a copy of Tom Standage's 'The Neptune File: A Story of Astronomical Rivalry and the Pioneers of Planet Hunting,' the story of John Couch Adams' startling genius and the developments of planetary astronomy from William Herschel to our current spectroscopic and mathematical hunt for distant exoplanets.
Not a bad book, but not great either.
Not a boring science textbook.......2007-06-23
Sobel brings science to life in this tell of the quest to solve the navigational conundrum of measuring position. Her writing is visual and fluid. The book tells a gripping story that brings in bits of politics, geography, economics, philosophy, and many other disciplines. It proves that fact can be stranger than fiction. This is a great read for anyone of any age and with any area of interest.
A Great Story.......2007-06-12
Longitude and latitude tell a sailor or aviator or hiker where in the entire world he or she is. If latitude is known, one knows how far north or south of the equator he or she is. But that's a circle all the way around the earth. To find the point on that circle, the sailor's longitude must be known. Without longitude, ships missed resupply islands in the south pacific by a couple of miles or by hundreds of miles - and never knew it. They crashed into rocks wandering around like you would in a dark room - the door is on the other side but, where?
The earth is round and, therefore, there are 360 degrees in the circumference. The earth makes one rotation every 24 hours and the sun stays put. That is, the earth rotates at the rate of 15 degrees per hour. So, if I know the time at some point in the world and I know the local time, I can calculate where I am on the circle of latitude. I can determine local noon and then I look at my very accurate clock and determine the time in, say, London. If it's four hours earlier in London, I know I am 4 x 15 or 60 degrees around the world from London. I shoot the sun with my sextant to find my latitude and now I know where I am.
The problem was - how do I know what time it is in London when I'm in the south pacific. Even on land, clocks were not even close to accurate - they'd lose several minutes a day. Many solutions were proposed - my favorites were the "sympathetic dogs" and the line of cannon firing ships. The dog solution involved having a dog in London and a dog on the ship. Since it was well known that dogs communicate telepathically, if the dog in London was pinched, the dog on the ship would feel it and yelp. So - pinch the dog at noon and - voila! That didn't work so the next idea was to put a string of ships across the oceans beginning in London. Put them at one mile intervals and have the crews listen. At noon a cannon would be fired in London and the first ship would fire its cannon. The second ship would hear it and fire its cannon. and so forth across all the oceans. When a cruising ship heard the cannon, the captain knew it was noon in London. Too many ships, too much money and what to do during a storm.
Harrison's first clock was accurate to 1/2 second per day. That's in the mid seventeen hundreds. That's better than most clocks and watches made anywhere in the world up to about 30 years ago. He ultimately made a large watch - about five inches across - that was able to keep London time so accurately the British Navy could go anywhere and find what they were looking for and the way home. But think of the problems - the ship is rolling and pitching so a pendulum won't work. The temperature and humidity change so the mechanism slows or speeds up or rusts. There were no computer chips or quartz crystals. And there were many important people saying, "God is the answer - look to the heavens."
It's a story about something we take so easily for granted today. Our throwaway watches are more accurate than anything imaginable when Harrison started. An atomic clock measures time to the billionth of a second and we think nothing of it - but without those clocks we would have no satellite communication, no weather satellites, no space program. It's a story about a man who didn't know the answer but was determined to find it. Harrison had no computer, no modern machine tools, no precedent. His story is absolutely amazing. And it is told wonderfully by Dava Sobel. I've read it three times and have enjoyed it each of them.
Amazon.com
In American Prometheus, Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin delve deep into J. Robert Oppenheimer's life and deliver a thorough and devastatingly sad biography of the man whose very name has come to represent the culmination of 20th century physics and the irrevocable soiling of science by governments eager to exploit its products. Rich in historical detail and personal narratives, the book paints a picture of Oppenheimer as both a controlling force and victim of the mechanisms of power.
By the time the story reaches Oppenheimer's fateful Manhattan Project work, readers have been swept along much as the project's young physicists were by fate and enormous pressure. The authors allow the scientists to speak for themselves about their reactions to the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings, avoiding any sort of preacherly tone while revealing the utter, horrible ambiguity of the situation. For instance, Oppenheimer wrote in a letter to a friend, "The thing had to be done," then, "Circumstances are heavy with misgiving."
Many biographies of Oppenheimer end here, with the seeds of his later pacifism sown and the dangers of mixing science with politics clearly outlined. But Bird and Sherwin devote the second half of this hefty book to what happened to Oppenheimer after the bomb. For a short time, he was lionized as the ultimate patriot by a victorious nation, but things soured as the Cold War crept forward and anti-communist witchhunts focused paranoia and anti-Semitism onto Oppenheimer, destroying his career and disillusioning him about his life's work. Devastated by the atom bomb's legacy of fear, he became a vocal and passionate opponent of the Strangelovian madness that gripped the world because of the weapons he helped develop.
Twenty-five years of research went into creating American Prometheus, and there has never been a more honest and complete biography of this tragic scientific giant. The many great ironies of Oppenheimer's life are revealed through the careful reconstruction of a wealth of records, conversations, and ideas, leaving the clearest picture yet of his life. --Therese Littleton
Book Description
J. Robert Oppenheimer is one of the iconic figures of the twentieth century, a brilliant physicist who led the effort to build the atomic bomb for his country in a time of war, and who later found himself confronting the moral consequences of scientific progress. In this magisterial, acclaimed biography twenty-five years in the making, Kai Bird and Martin Sherwin capture Oppenheimer’s life and times, from his early career to his central role in the Cold War. This is biography and history at its finest, riveting and deeply informative.
Customer Reviews:
A Superb Biography.......2007-09-30
This book merited its Pulitzer Prize: the subject, Oppenheimer and the bomb, is fascinating; the scholarship is thorough; and the writing is so clear that one forgets one is reading--one sees the events of history.
I will never forget the authors' analysis of why we dropped the bombs on those two unlucky Japanese cities. Was it to save the lives of our troops and of those who would defend Japan? No, the Japanese wanted to surrender in July of 1945, and the invasion of Japan was scheduled to occur after 1 November 1945. Truman wanted to end the war before 15 August, the date Stalin had promised to declare war on Japan. Decoded diplomatic cables revealed that the Japanese were willing to surrender in July if the US relaxed its condition of "unconditional surrender." But Secretary of State James F. Byrnes of South Carolina advised Truman that the Democrats would do better in the elections of 1946 and 1948 if Truman insisted on unconditional surrender. So he dropped the two atomic bombs on Japan to win those elections.
The authors' description of Lewis Strauss's hearings was excellent.
Even the biographers are leftist.......2007-09-05
This book was engaging and well written and full of insights about the life of J Robert Oppenheimer. However, it was clear to this reader that the sympathies of the authors are far to the left. Although one could easily agree that the 1954 Oppenheimer security hearing was something of a kangaroo court, the authors treated the issue of Oppenheimer's security status as if it were a primary right (such as the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness) rather than a status granted by the government at its discretion. After all, why would the US Government appoint someone to be intimately associated with the development of the H-bomb who publicly and forcefully disdained the effort--whether or not the man was at the time or had been in the past a fellow-traveler? Also, all of the "nasty" characters who happened to be Republican were repeated and clearly identified as Republican but the "nasty" Democrats were simply identified by their names.
This leftist tendency by the authors is a blemish on what otherwise would have been one of the most enjoyable books I have read in years and certainly one of the best I have read on this remarkable period in American history. But, then, I guess it is difficult for authors not to identify and sympathize with their subject, especially since most who came in contact with Oppenheimer during his life seemed also to have succumbed to his spell.
The Incredible Life of a Nearly Forgotten Hero.......2007-08-31
Before my grandfather handed me this book I had no idea Oppenheimer ever existed. Nothing from school, other books, or TV. Now, I feel as though I've met him. As I read this book I felt his anger, sadness, pain, and joy.
I had no knowledge of this man, and I don't think any is needed before reading this book. It's also about much more than Oppenheimer. Knowing about his life gave me a VERY different view of the American Communists of the thirties, the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, McCarthism, the Cold War, and the US government as a whole.
Within this book America isn't that sparkly clean America I thought it was. America makes mistakes just like all of us and I believe it's incredibly important the citizens are told more than just the nice version of history. When Oppenheimer challenged this nice version, the backlash nearly destroyed him.
Buy this book, borrow it, just read it. This book contains forgotten history every American needs to know.
A Splendid Enigma.......2007-08-09
There was a time when scientists where revered in the same way that athletes, entertainers, and celebrities are today. The first half of the 20th century was a time of great scientific and technological development and achievement. Despite global struggles with depression, war and ideological strife, the promise of a bright future delivered by brilliant men in universities and laboratories, offered a vision of a brave new world. The dark side of this lay in man's own capacity for self-destruction if ethics and morals failed to keep pace with scientific advancement. Would the new frontiers of science create a new Eden, or would it destroy the fruits of civilization? Specifically, would the unleashed power of the atom bring peace and abundance, or would it foster terror among the nations of the world?
AMERICAN PROMOTHEUS: THE TRIUMPH AND TRAGEDY OF J. ROBERT OPPENHEIMER chronicles the life and times of the splendid enigma - Oppie - the brilliant physicist who became a shepherd of geniuses. These were the members of the team at Los Alamos who created the atomic bomb - the weapon that ended World War II and brought "peace" to the world in a blinding flash of radioactivity.
The authors, Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin have collaborated in this Pulitzer Prize winning exploration of "Oppie" in a level of detail not previously seen in previous biographies. From Oppenheimer's early life to his years as a student and prodigy, internationally renowned academic to the Los Alamos Atomic Bomb Project and its cold war aftermath, the authors provide a telling multi-textural portrait of a man both loved and hated by fellow scientists, politicians, and ethicists. The consequences of his intellectual curiosity and affinity of communistic ideals in the early years of the Cold War amidst the shameful paranoia of McCarthyism provide an insight into the man's human frailties as well as his intellectual strengths. The revocation of Oppenheimer's security clearance amidst such political turmoil sheds light on a controversial period in American history.
The book is well researched and documented. The narrative flows well, despite some repetition in chapters devoted to Oppenheimer's 1930s political activities. It is a compelling and comprehensive biography of one of the most elusive personalities in American and World History.
Complex, but very approachable.......2007-06-30
This is an extremely well-written, engaging, and engrossing tale of an equally complex and brilliant man. The degree of his humanness -- unapologetically raw; the degree of his metal abilities -- virtually unmatched. A great read for any fan of science, mathematics, or the history of science. You won't be able to put it down once you start it.
Average customer rating:
- Underwhelming
- Franklin was ahead of his time
- Great Book!
- Thoroughly enjoyable.
- Entertaining and Enlightening
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Benjamin Franklin: An American Life
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ASIN: 074325807X |
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Benjamin Franklin, writes journalist and biographer Walter Isaacson, was that rare Founding Father who would sooner wink at a passer-by than sit still for a formal portrait. What's more, Isaacson relates in this fluent and entertaining biography, the revolutionary leader represents a political tradition that has been all but forgotten today, one that prizes pragmatism over moralism, religious tolerance over fundamentalist rigidity, and social mobility over class privilege. That broadly democratic sensibility allowed Franklin his contradictions, as Isaacson shows. Though a man of lofty principles, Franklin wasn't shy of using sex to sell the newspapers he edited and published; though far from frivolous, he liked his toys and his mortal pleasures; and though he sometimes gave off a simpleton image, he was a shrewd and even crafty politician. Isaacson doesn't shy from enumerating Franklin's occasional peccadilloes and shortcomings, in keeping with the iconoclastic nature of our time--none of which, however, stops him from considering Benjamin Franklin "the most accomplished American of his age," and one of the most admirable of any era. And here's one bit of proof: as a young man, Ben Franklin regularly went without food in order to buy books. His example, as always, is a good one--and this is just the book to buy with the proceeds from the grocery budget. --Gregory McNamee
Book Description
Benjamin Franklin is the founding father who winks at us, the one who seems made of flesh rather than marble. In this authoritative and engrossing full-scale biography, Walter Isaacson shows how the most fascinating of America's founders helped define our national character.
In a sweeping narrative that follows Franklin's life from Boston to Philadelphia to London and Paris and back, Isaacson chronicles the adventures of the spunky runaway apprentice who became, during his 84-year life, America's best writer, inventor, media baron, scientist, diplomat, and business strategist, as well as one of its most practical and ingenious political leaders. He explores the wit behind Poor Richard's Almanac and the wisdom behind the Declaration of Independence, the new nation's alliance with France, the treaty that ended the Revolution, and the compromises that created a near-perfect Constitution.
Above all, Isaacson shows how Franklin's unwavering faith in the wisdom of the common citizen and his instinctive appreciation for the possibilities of democracy helped to forge an American national identity based on the virtues and values of its middle class.
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"Benjamin Franklin is the Founding Father who winks at us. An ambitious urban entrepreneur who rose up the social ladder, from leather-aproned shopkeeper to dining with kings, he seems made of flesh rather than of marble. In bestselling author Walter Isaacson's vivid and witty full-scale biography, we discover why Franklin seems to turn to us from history's stage with eyes that twinkle from behind his new-fangled spectacles. By bringing Franklin to life, Isaacson shows how he helped to define both his own time and ours. He was, during his 84-year life, America's best scientist, inventor, diplomat, writer, and business strategist, and he was also one of its most practical -- though not most profound -- political thinkers. He was the only man who shaped all the founding documents of America: the Albany Plan of Union, the Declaration of Independence, the treaty of alliance with France, the peace treaty with England, and the Constitution. And he helped invent America's unique style of homespun humor, democratic values, and philosophical pragmatism. But the most interesting thing that Franklin invented, and continually reinvented, was himself. America's first great publicist, he was, in his life and in his writings, consciously trying to create a new American archetype. In the process, he carefully crafted his own persona, portrayed it in public, and polished it for posterity. In this colorful and intimate narrative, Isaacson provides the full sweep of Franklin's amazing life, from his days as a runaway printer to his triumphs as a statesman, scientist, and Founding Father. He chronicles Franklin's tumultuous relationship with his illegitimate son and grandson, his practical marriage, and his flirtations with the ladies of Paris. He also shows how Franklin helped to create the American character and why he has a particular resonance in the twenty-first century. "
Customer Reviews:
Underwhelming.......2007-10-10
This biography had its moments, but Isaacson was far too enamored of Franklin, and did not present a balanced view. He was overly critical of Adams, but failed to be objectively critical of Franklin (or the other Founding Fathers) in return. Franklin is the Founding Father I'd most like to meet, but this biography is far too flattering, and really, rather dull. Isaacson is a serviceable writer, but does not make the story really come alive.
Franklin was ahead of his time.......2007-10-03
Many of the reviews already give the praise to this book that I would give. As I kept reading I found it amazing that this man was actually born 300 years ago. Many of his views are still so relevant today. I kept finding myself saying, "Yes, I totally agree with Franklin's opinion on that." I can imagine Franklin living in 2007 and being fascinated with things like the Internet and communication. However, I bet he would be the type of person who would still find time to write a letter and sit back and relax with some friends and tea which we so often fail to do today. Great book!
Great Book!.......2007-09-15
This bio was thoroughly enjoyable. I expected it to be informative and educational, but what I didn't expect was to be entertained. Franklin was a very complex man, both deep and shallow. He had very shallow relationships with his family, mainly his wife and son, very flirtaceous with other women, while being a deep thinker, an entrepreneur, American statesman, diplomat and genius. There's a lot of American history in the book with out being slow and boring.
I simply loved this book.
Thoroughly enjoyable........2007-09-13
I read elsewhere that Franklin was about 70 years of age before going to France as Embassador. He was quick witted to be sure but a bit unpredictable for his French caretakers. He left nothing for them in his will. Isaacson did a wonderful job of reporting on Frankin's irascible character.
Entertaining and Enlightening.......2007-08-29
Walter Issacson is a very meticulous and loquacious writer. I found myself looking for the dictionary while trying to decipher the meaning of his writing. The book is very verbose, very detailed, and gives an accurate and balanced view into Franklin's personal and political life.
Book Description
A revolution in the way we use artificial lighting is underway, one that is every bit as sweeping and significant as Edison's invention of the light bulb. The technology of light emitting diodes (LEDs) is ready for widespread implementation. Its impacts will include a reduction in energy consumption for electric lighting by up to 80 percent.
Brilliant! tells the story of Shuji Nakamura, a gifted Japanese engineer who came out of nowhere to stun the world with his announcement that he had created the last piece in the puzzle needed for manufacturing solid-state white lights. The invention of this holy-grail product, which promises to make Edison's light bulb obsolete, had eluded the best minds at the top electronic firms for twenty-five years. Until his startling announcement, Nakamura had not even been on the radar screen of most industry observers.
Veteran technology writer Bob Johnstone traces the career of Nakamura, which included many years of obstinate individual effort as well as a dramatic legal battle pitting him against his former Japanese employer. Over a five-year span, Nakamura distinguished himself with an unprecedented series of inventions—bright blue, green, ultraviolet, and then white LEDs, plus a blue laser that will play an essential role in the next-generation DVD players. Then he was forced to leave Nichia Chemical, the company where he had worked for twenty years, and his former employer sued him. The result was a multimillion-dollar settlement in a landmark decision that acknowledged, for the first time, the rights of individual inventors working in a corporate context. Today, Nakamura holds a professor's chair at the University of California at Santa Barbara, where he continues to develop the technology of LEDs.
Johnstone, the first Western journalist to meet and interview Nakamura, has received the brilliant engineer's full cooperation through a series of exclusive interviews given for the book. Johnstone has also interviewed other key players in the imminent lighting revolution, providing an exciting preview of the technological, entrepreneurial, and artistic creativity that will soon be unleashed by Nakamura's inventions.
Customer Reviews:
Any science library strong in invention history needs BRILLIANT!.......2007-07-27
BRILLIANT! SHUJI NAKAMURA AND THE REVOLUTION IN LIGHTING TECHNOLOGY tells of the evolution of LED technology and how it was stalled over making an LED that would emit the bright blue light needed to make useful white light LEDs - until researcher Shuji Nakamura's key invention which single-handedly created the industry of solid-state lighting. Author Bob Johnstone is the first Western journalist to meet and interview Nakamura, and here provides a powerful blend of science and biography to show how the inventor made his ground-breaking discovery and how LEDs are revolutionizing the world. Any science library strong in invention history needs BRILLIANT!
Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch
Must read book on Nakamura and LEDs.......2007-06-02
I heartily recommend this book for people who are interested in innovation, business, science, technology, etc. The book tells the fascinating story of Nakamura and the impact LEDs are having on the lighting industry.
Part One of the book tells the story of how Nakamura invented the first commercially successful GaN LED. Part Three explains how Nakamura became unwanted at Nichia and how he decided to move to UCSB. Parts Two and Four talk about some of the companies that are using LEDs to make exciting new products. I'll be a nit picker and say the book should be titled "Shuji Nakamura and the *Coming* revolution in Lighting Technology" because the revolution is just starting.
Although LEDs have been around for about four decades and everyone already owns products that incororate them, very few people understand the potential of LEDs and the impact that they will have on lighting over the next few years. The conversion to white LEDs for general lighting is underway. People will want to understand more about this phenomenon as they recognize the impact that LEDs are having on the lighting industry and energy consumption. The good news is that this book will serve as a tutorial for people who want to learn about LEDs.
A MUST READ for environmentalists and investors!!.......2007-05-15
Brilliant!!! Refreshing!!! Bob Johnstone is correct in espousing Shuji Nakamura as the leader of the LED revolution. Shuji's list of patents and accomplishments in his field far outshine all of his peers put together. Definitely a Nobel Prize in the works for Mr. Nakamura and hopefully a Pulitzer for Mr. Johnstone for his ability to explain this complex subject to the average reader in a true tale of high intrigue! The LED scientific community is still rather small. The competition for the holy grail (replacing the everyday lightbulb) is phenomenal. Bob and Shuji have this unusual, provocative combination that tells the story of this new high tech race. Bob spends quite a few chapters explaining the unusual and life changing ramifications of LED development worlwide. A must read for any investor or those with eco-green concerns!!!
Customer Reviews:
Do not waste your Money.......2007-03-16
If you want to read a good biography of Nikola Tesla I would recommend you two books: Man out of Time or Nikola Tesla: A spark of genius...
Worst book on Tesla ever!.......2007-01-27
This is by all means the worst book on Nikola Tesla ever! This book portrays Tesla in a way that he never was, a confused lunatic with confused visions and a hard line nationalist attitude. It is no wonder that one reader nicknamed huh concluded that Tesla was stupid and was not able to finish most of his inventions (by the way, this guy sounds like someone from Edison's camp). Tesla was born in an environment of constant clashes between Croats and Serbs, and Ottoman empire (not "Asian barbarians" as this author constantly portrays this great Empire) had nothing to do with Tesla's departure to US. Teslas's father was orthodox priest (a hardliner) who wanted to see his son in the Serbian army (it is the same army who completely escaped into Greece which is unknown example of cowardice in the history and whose king also escaped to England leaving his nation to German mercy, thus Tesla did not see anything great in this "great army"). Tesla refused going to Serbian army and he refused being hard-line nationalist. Tesla once said:" I am proud of my country Croatia and my Serbian nationality". This indicates best that he was not hard-line nationalist (keep in mind that Serbian nationalist even today claim that Croatia is occupied Serbian territory and that it will be wiped off the map). This author actually invented many stories of Tesla's life and even more of them are from second or third hand, totally untrue.
On the technical aspect of this book it is not even worth any comments. Someone who does not know anything about electrical tech must be wondering, what the heck did this guy Tesla invent anyway (hence huh reader again)? I would describe the technical portion of this book as a good joke; even Mr. Bean would do it better. Author just could not sustain a certain hatred for Ottoman empire, which by the way was not much different then eg. Roman empire. Stay away from this book, you will not learn anything from it and could be infected with serious hate.
This book is a zero mark!
The Best on Nikola Tesla.......2006-11-06
Without a doubt the most comprehensive book I have read on Mr. Tesla's life. This edition is meant for that reader who wants very detailed events and accomplishments about the scientist life. Mr. Seifer's research about Nikola Tesla's early life, his early school years, formal education and subsequent acquaintances establishes an overall base on which the reader can reference easily as the book progresses into Mr. Tesla's later years. The author brings to the reader's mind the fact that Nikola Tesla called his "close friends" the most amazing scientists at the turn of the 19th century who themselves became icons in the scientific community. However, Mr.Seifer, illustrates as well the human side of Nikola Tesla thereby keeping in focus the frail aspect of this incredible scientist and those devils his amazing intellect had to fight. I strongly recommend this book to those who wish to literaly know about Nikola Tesla's life. It is truly a manificent tome.
A great biography of Nikola Tesla.......2006-06-15
As you'd expect from a psychology professor, this biography is an extremely good biography of Tesla as a person, and a very good biography of his life and times. As with most scientific prodigies, the biographers are not equal to their subjects' scientific accomplishments, which leads to a certain amount of benign neglect. The book would not suffer under a few more historical mises en scène. All in all though, it is an extremely good book.
The Best Biography of Nikola Tesla.......2005-04-27
I value this book highly because of its even-handedness in its treatment of Nikola Tesla. Virtually every thing stated by Mr. Seifer is documented. After all, this book is the result of his doctoral dissertation.
The subject of the book is treated as a believeable human being. Assuredly, he was a genius; but the author fairly points out when Tesla may have missed the mark. The author neither blindly worships nor blindly condemns Nikola Tesla.
Because this is a biography, it does not go into depth about Nikola Tesla's inventions; Enough information is presented as is necessary to the story.
I am thankful that I have encountered this book because it is based upon truth.
Average customer rating:
- ok i guess
- The Practical Theoretician
- autobiography of a genius
- Scratches the Surface
- So you saw "The Prestige" and are intrigued. Good!
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My Inventions: The Autobiography of Nikola Tesla
Nikola Tesla
Manufacturer: Filiquarian Publishing, LLC.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 1599869942 |
Book Description
This important title is the autobiography of Nikola Tesla. Nikola Tesla appropriately titled his work on his life, My Inventions, as he was one of the most important inventors and scientists in history. The book touches on his life and career, his first inventions, discovering the magnetic field, tesla coil and transformer and the manifying transmitter. There is also a chapter on the art of teleautomatics. This book should be read by anybody interested in the life of this important inventor and scientist and his important discoveries which have revolutionized the world.
Download Description
Originally published in 1919 in Electrical Experimenter magazine, here are Nikola Tesla's reflections on his early years and work.
Customer Reviews:
ok i guess.......2007-09-27
Good book, it seems like its written funny,not sure how to explain it though. Alot of uncapitalized i's, was it even proofread?
The Practical Theoretician.......2007-09-10
This is a great book which surfaces Tesla's biography, image of himself and of his internal mental processes. The way Tesla outlines his own internal thought processes and psychology is deeply interesting. I think anyone who aspires to be an inventory would be inspired by reading this book. Tesla's explanation of how he ran experiments in his mind without needing any interfering apparatus is inspiring to those who enjoy theorizing and exploring reality.
autobiography of a genius.......2007-05-12
A very entertaining book that offers a great deal of insight into Tesla's life and inventions.
Scratches the Surface.......2007-04-11
Because the book is so brief it doesn't go into great depth about his inventions or his research methods. I read elsewhere (in the book Miracles in the Storm) that one of his experiments with his coil caused the main generator at Colorado Springs power station to burst into flames. Also, he doesn't mention his theory that the Earth could be "split open like an apple" through critical resonance. I was quite interested in his childhood stuff, but for a book with the title "MY INVENTIONS" it doesn't deal with its subject matter enough for my liking.
So you saw "The Prestige" and are intrigued. Good!.......2007-01-15
So you saw "The Prestige" and are intrigued. Good!
This book is for you, then. In fact, I suggest you read this AUTOBIOGRAPHY before you read Cheney's BIOGRAPHY, getting your information from the horse's mouth.
Considering that English is a second language for Tesla, this book is a smooth read. Having a minister father and being polyglot himself, and being blessed with a great memory for poetry, of course, helped out.
As an autobiography, we get to pick Tesla's mind, and see things as he saw him. He candidly talks about his early childhood visions and eidetic memory, and his ability to conceive of inventions solely by concentration. One biographer suggested that Tesla was the avatar of a Venusian spirit. The funny thing is that this is almost believable.
I was also moved by the trauma that he experienced as a child such as the death of his brother, the negative aspects of his vision, and the bouts of hypervigilance where he could hear a watch ticking several rooms away. A friend of mine has had this same affliction, and I pity them both.
My favorite chapter is the first one, where he explains his philosophy of invention:
"The progressive development of man is vitally dependent on invention. It is the most important product of his creative brain. Its ultimate purpose is the complete mastery of mind over the material world, the harnessing of the forces of nature to human needs. This is the difficult task of the inventor who is often misunderstood and unrewarded. But he finds ample compensation in the pleasing exercises of his powers and in the knowledge of being one of that exceptionally privileged class without whom the race would have long ago perished in the bitter struggle against pitiless elements."
PS--you can find a pdf of this book online. But having it bound makes it easier to read.
Book Description
Translated into a dozen languages, printed in hundreds of editions, and read by millions of people, Franklin's autobiography has had an influence perhaps unequaled by any other book by an American writer. Written ostensibly as a letter to his son William, the autobiography offers Franklin's reflections on philosophy and religion, politics, war, education, material success, and the status of women. This edition of the autobiography, prepared by the editors of The Papers of Benjamin Franklin, is drawn with scrupulous care from the original manuscript in Franklin's handwriting now in the Henry E. Huntington Library and Art Gallery. The introduction by Leonard W. Labaree places the autobiography in literary and historical contexts. In a new foreword, Edmund S. Morgan writes about Franklin's dual allegiance as an American and a subject of an English king—and his emergence as a leader of the American Revolution. This edition also includes biographical notes, a chronology of Franklin's life, and an updated bibliography.
Customer Reviews:
The Human Side of an American Icon.......2007-02-27
Like so many people I only know Benjamin Franklin from school and history books where he comes across as someone stiff and formal. But here in the first half of this book we find Ben Franklin the boy. We hear him complain of his parents, his restrictions, quarrels with his brothers, and of course things that all boys do. He steals from a construction site to build a fishing pier -- and gets caught. We see him finally breaking away and moving to Philadelphia where he arrives with very little money and must subsist on bread. He describes his youth and his gradual maturity as he builds his life and fortune. Interestingly this book leaves some doubt as to whether he was actually married to Deborah Read or had an "arrangement". I particularly enjoyed his description of General Braddock and his defeat by the Indians. Although this was only briefly touched on this and other similar references to the English gives you insight into why the colonists rebelled. Clearly the English completely misjudged the American Character as most Europeans do even today.
Unfortunately the second half of this book was written after the war and when Franklin was an old man and clearly not terribly interested in finishing this book. It reads as an after thought and really doesn't provide any insight into his role or the extraordinary people and events of which he was a part. But it does show the close relationship he had with his son so when the estrangement came it must have hurt him deeply although this is a subject not mentioned at all in the book.
However, the editors have kindly provided a marvelous timeline in the appendix, which really gives you a summary of the Revolutionary War as it places various key events into perspective. You see the impact that John Paul Jones's victory over the Serapis had on events in Paris. It shows how Franklin's diplomatic skills had a huge effect on the ultimate outcome of the war.
Franklin was an extraordinary man who lived an extraordinary life. He writes about himself rather modestly and really doesn't touch on his activities during the war in any detail and for this reason I only gave this book four stars. Still this is an interesting book about a truly fascinating man.
Life Lessons for All.......2007-02-13
Well, it has been nearly 30 years since I first read Benjamin Franklin's autobiography and one can still gain some insights after a second reading. The American icon's wisdom and insights are time honored and worth repeating.
This edition has copious footnotes on every page unlike at the end of the book. The authors may have felt that the reader would be interested in the quick reference aspect verses paging to the back. Though this can be a little strange a first, I get their point and maybe it was better this way.
One aspect that I would have liked; however, would have been if they had added some of his other selected writing like "The Way to Wealth" and others. Irrespective, this is a good edition and recommended as one of the more authoritative editions.
A glimpse into the mind of an American icon.......2006-03-11
The autobiography of Ben Franklin is a worthwhile read simply because of who Ben Franklin is. It is beneficial to understand the character of this great man by judging him through his own words. There is no doubt that Franklin was an ingenius man and his witty rhetoric further confirms his intelligence. It also confirms his egotistical nature I hate to say.... But I suppose he had every right given his success...
Anyhow, I thought the first portion of the book (written before the revolution) was much more interesting that the latter half. Unfortunately the autobiography was never really finished by Franklin. He ends off abruptly during the French and Indian War period and there is nary an remark concerning American Independence, which would have been interesting to read about from his point of view.
Still, overall, it's worth the read.
Why did Franklin write his autobiography?.......2005-03-24
The purpose of the book is difficult to pin down, primarily because Franklin never completed and cohesively tied his biography together. The purpose, it seems, is then left to the effects that it has had upon history. Although difficult to follow and often a confusing narrative, Franklin composes a portrait of the prototypical American success story, perhaps even the first. His emphasis on personal virtue and industry is a sermon not only to his son, but also to Americans throughout time, on the formula for success. His descriptions of life in the colonies and the nature of self-teaching seem to set the standard for history's view of pre-revolutionary America.
The ethics of clean living and a hearty work ethic that Franklin sought to impart upon his son are still alive as ideals of the "American dream." Although it can be argued how much of a dream this really is, the value given to hard work and personal responsibility are very much a part of the American rhetoric that is indoctrinated through political and nationalistic institutions. It seems undeniable that Franklin hoped to have a lasting effect on future generations, as he certainly did not succeed in living the virtue of humility.
While vanity certainly must play a part in the drive for any public figure to pen to paper and detail their life, part and parcel with that is the desire to be a good role model to a wide audience. Franklin seems to have prided himself on being a good role model throughout his life, from his time in England until returning to Philadelphia, assisting others in setting up businesses and becoming self-sufficient.
We can only speculate what Franklin's reasoning must have been. Indeed, it may be that assuming history will have well recorded the time period, a personal account was unnecessary. It may be that Franklin simply never finished his Autobiography and certainly intended to return to the subject. Whatever the reasons may be, this is certainly the most jarring and notable deficiency from an otherwise detailed record of the life of one of our most important statesmen.
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