Inventors
Explore the greatest minds in history with our curated list of books about inventors. Discover biographies, innovations, and stories that shaped the world.
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Tesla
by Margaret Cheney
Called a madman by some, a genius by others, and an enigma by nearly everyone, Nikola Tesla was possibly the greatest inventor the world has ever known. He was, without a doubt, a trail blazer who created astonishing, sometimes world-transforming, devices that were virtually without theoretical precedent. It was Tesla who introduced us to the fundamentals of robotry, computers, and missile science and helped pave the way for such space-age technologies as satellites, microwaves, beam weapons, and nuclear fusion. Yet, Tesla still remains one of the least-recognized scientific pioneers in history. Certainly he was one of the strangest of scientists - almost supernaturally gifted, erratic, flamboyant, and neurotic nearly to the point of madness. A dandy and popular man-about-town, he was admired by men as diverse as George Westinghouse and Mark Twain and adored by scores of society beauties. Yet his bewildering array of compulsions and phobias extended from such mundane subjects as food and clean linen to pearls and women's ears. He was fond of creating violent, neighborhood-threatening electrical storms in his apartment laboratory and once nearly knocked down a tall building by a attaching a mysterious "black box" to its side. ( He claimed he could have destroyed the entire planet with a similar device.) And because he kept so few notes, to this day we can only guess at the details of many of the fantastic scientific projects that occupied this fevered intellect. Margaret Cheney has written the definitive in-depth biography of this astonishing figure. From Tesla's childhood in Yugoslavia to his death in New York in the 1940's, Cheney both paints a compelling human portrait and chronicles a lifetime of discoveries that radically altered - and continue to alter - the world we live in. Cheney also casts important light on one of the central mysteries associated with Tesla - the whereabouts of the famous "missing scientific papers" that vanished at the time of the inventor's death. Tesla is a riveting journey into the mind and life of the eccentric wizard who was Edison's enemy, Mark Twain's friend, J.P Morgan's client, and hero and mentor to many of the 20th century's most famous scientists.
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Benjamin Franklin
by Walter Isaacson
During his 84-year life Benjamin Franklin was America's best scientist, inventor, publisher, business strategist, diplomat, and writer. He was also one of its most practical political thinkers. America's first great publicist, he carefully crafted his own persona, portrayed it in public and polished it for posterity. In this riveting new biography Walter Isaacson provides readers with a full portrait of Franklin's public and private life - his loyal but neglected wife, his bastard son with whom he broke over going to war with England, his endless replacement families and his many amorous, but probably unconsummated, liaisons. But this is not just a biography of Benjamin Franklin but rather a fascinating look at American and European political history at that time. Isaacson examines the run up to the Revolutionary War, the intimate relations between Britain, France and the colonies and the decisive events that led to America's independence. Just as David McCullough brought life to the historic figure of John Adams, Isaacson portrays Franklin in the flesh, showing readers how this radical man helped define America's national character and personality.
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