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!
Average customer rating:
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- Very Interesting
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History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
Anatoly Fomenko
Manufacturer: Mithec
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ASIN: 2913621058 |
Book Description
Recorded history is a finely-woven magic fabric of intricate lies about events predating the sixteenth century. There is not a single piece of evidence that can be reliably and independently traced back earlier than the eleventh century. This book details events that are substantiated by hard facts and logic, and validated by new astronomical research and statistical analysis of ancient sources.
Customer Reviews:
Calculations are only as good as your numbers.......2007-08-03
Yes, we can all agree that mainstream history is nearly 100% BS due to politics, economics, ego, problems with dating techniques, and various conspiracies. Agreed. But, I've been researching the distinct possibility that human history (in terms of civilizations) are much more ancient than we've been told, so coming across this book was very interesting to me. I wondered how Fomenko could be wrong (if at all) because he is very persuasive in his presentations. Then it dawned on me. If at previous times in prehistory, due to the various catastrophies that are well documented (comets, asteroids, planetary disruptions, plasma discharge, pole reversals, etc) the Earth was in a different position in relation to the sun, different tilt on its axis, different orbit, different rotation (in terms of velocity and DIRECTION), and the continents were in different positions, then would this not cause the ancients to see the sky (constellations) differently? In other words, is Fomenko making erronious assumptions about the physics of the Earth in pre-history, which then corrupt his data with regards to dating the relevant astrology? The last event to seriously disrupt our planet occured roughly 3500 years ago, according to other good researchers, so is it possible Fomenko has been confused by this? The vastly different physics of our planet in the not so distant past may explain this confusion, which is not to say the "mainstream" version of history is correct; on the contrary. I am not an expert in these fields, but wanted to see if this idea could spark discussion.
Pants on fire?.......2007-07-19
Will people ever read before spamming? Yes, Jesuits could not rewrite world history alone, they had help. Anyway, Dr Prof Acad A.Fomenko does not point to jesuits as the driving force of world wide history manipulation in published volumes 1,2,3;, actually he barely mentions the poor devils. Check it with 'Search inside' feature, please. China is rarely mentioned either, in fact, Dr Fomenko is completely eurocentric. Right, his theory contradicts all mainstream schools of history, because in their actual state they are all built on blatantly erroneus chronology. You don't need a mysterious cabal (conspiracy) to falsify history, the falsification is its modus operandi. It is inherent to history(ians) to falsify (distort) events, as it is inherent to humans to boast as it is inherent to power (authority) to legimize itself by referrring to glorious past made to its own order. Dr Prof Fomenko and team have identified scores of instances of such manipulation in Russian, European, etc.. history, and delivered valid statistical proof thereof. His own 'reconstruction' is completely another story. Forget c14 as a valid method of dating. W.Libby has initially discovered a brilliant method of INDEPENDENT dating. Too bad, c14 method has become a joke after a forced marrige with dendrochronology with consensual chronological scale inbuilt. Radiocarbon method can't stand blind tests, but is so very productive as a rubberstamp.
Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed. .......2007-04-09
There is no doubt that history as most know it is a sham, & institution's version of History both University & Church is fradulent & inaccurate. Everything was established with an agenda, The real "Dark Ages" are now when we have access to incredible amounts of information past authorities & more important 'common folk' didn't have but our institutions & educators are slow to evolve because of what has ignorantly & arrogantly been taught for too long. This is on many subjects not just Chronology.
For anyone to question "Why would a Mathematician have anything credible to say of History?" The answer is from Dr. Fomenko's preface in the book: "It would be worthwhile to remind the reader that in the XVI-XVII century Chronology was considered to be a subdivision of Mathematics." These volumes could possibly be some of the most important works to date & should be read by everyone with an interest in History, especially professors & educators who have a duty to the public. I have read both books & must say that 'Chronology 1' has some very eye opening & revolutionary information. Even if these volumes are part true the implications are profound & opens the doors to further investigations & questions which must be done. I speak several different lanquages & must say the logic Dr. Fomenko uses with "inflection" of words & words being read from left to right in one region & right to left in another then written backwards, the removal of vowels & get down to basics of words, or different cities & locations having the same name etc. is correct. Vowel usage has always been optional & varied, actually complicating linquistics & study. The first thing one has to understand is that words never had a fixed spelling in history like we do now, the spelling of words was mutable & regional, as well as names & titles of people were vast, varied & changed, NOTHING WAS FIXED or understood linear. Matters of Life & Death as well as financial profiteering yesterday & today were & are made with ignorant, illogical & conspiratorial views of history & reality, it's time people get closer to the Truth & society collectively grow up.
Very Interesting.......2007-03-07
It is a good proposal and I believe it will mature into something even better in the future. I think it deserves to be read.
History as Science Fiction.......2007-01-10
Anatoly Fomenko has written a very intriguing book, full of pictures, charts, and computer 'proof' of his thesis: backwards of AD900 we don't really know what happened or when. Between AD900 and AD1600 there is more certainty, but there is still a lot of fuzzy ground, and things don't get reliable until we get past the 1600's where the printing press made it very difficult for the perpetrators of this timeline manipulation to change anything that had been committed to print. The Dark Ages did not happen. Books were burned for a reason. One organization has doubled the actual length of its existence by expanding the real chronology. Read why.
I had always wondered why Christ died about AD33 and yet men waited until the 11th century to form the Knights Templar, the Cathars, etc and go after the Holy Land by force. Why the 1000 year gap? Turns out there wasn't more than a 10-12 year gap and he proves it using astronomy. This also implies that the planet is not as old as we have been told, and current Christian and other creationist scientists are already championing that idea without being aware of Fomenko's book. The two groups, creationist scientists and the Russian mathematical analysts corroborate each other. Fascinating.
Of course, all this flies in the face of what we have been told traditionally is the 'proper' chronology of western civilization, and most readers will experience 'cognitive dissonance' in reading this book. It means that our history going backwards from AD1600 becomes progressively more incorrect and unreliable until it cannot be trusted at all... in the space of 700-800 years.
Naturally, the curious, open-minded reader will want to know WHO did this, WHY, and did any of the events we think of as really ancient ever happen?
Dr. Fomenko is a respected scientist/mathematician at Moscow State University who has already answered these questions to the satisfaction of his initially skeptical colleagues. Most of them are now believers, a few still refuse to believe (the usual diehards), and of course the western press has ignored Fomenko's work -- for obvious reasons when you read the book. The ones who perpetrated this chronology ruse have a lot to answer for. They are still with us. That's why this book is a well-kept secret.
I gave the book a 4-star rating because I was unable to check out some of his claims; those I checked were as he said. But if even 1/3 of his claims are true, this punches a big hole in what we think is our history, the meaning of western civilization, our educational process (for repeating the ruse as gospel), and the trustworthiness of the organization that perpetrated this ruse, well-intentioned or not.
This book relates to current research into a Young Earth paradigm, to John Keel's discoveries about our planet, and Fr Malachi Martin's insights (in his now out-of-print books). We are indeed sheep who are manipulated and kept ignorant -- for a reason. While knowing what these men have to say may be the "booby prize" (as in: 'what can you do with this knowledge?'), it will provide interesting reading. Didn't someone say: "...and the Truth will set you free."?? For you to judge if this book contains the truth.
Book Description
Twice a winner of the Pulitzer Prize, author Barbara Tuchman now tackles the pervasive presence of folly in governments through the ages. Defining folly as the pursuit by governments of policies contrary to their own interersts, despite the availability of feasible alternatives, Tuchman details four decisive turning points in history that illustrate the very heights of folly in government: the Trojan War, the breakup of the Holy See provoked by the Renaissance Popes, the loss of the American colonies by Britain's George III, and the United States' persistent folly in Vietnam. THE MARCH OF FOLLY brings the people, places, and events of history magnificently alive for today's reader.
Customer Reviews:
A Timely Commentary.......2007-09-09
Though written in 1984, this book takes apart governmental decision-making and reveals that since Biblical times right on through the Viet Nam War, government leaders frequently operated against the best interests of their nations. The "folly" is that these leaders knew they were on the wrongtrack but did little to correct their errors while they continued to defend them. Though the book deals extensively with the Viet Nam War (as well as the American Revolution and the Seige of Troy), the current fiasco in Iraq is very much on the mind of the reader. Almost every misstep by the British at the time of the American Revolution was replicated in some form during Viet Nam and it is clearly being repeated again in Iraq.
The Optimistic Jew.......2007-08-31
Chapter One of this book is entitled "Pursuit of Policy Contrary to Self-Interest". Here Ms. Tuchman identifies what she feels are the three criteria for folly: 1) it must have been perceived as counter-productive in its own time (not in hindsight); 2) a feasible alternative course of action must have been available; and 3) the policy in question should be that of a group (of rulers or entire societies) and not of single individuals.
In my book "The Optimistic Jew" I identify Israel's misconceived settlement policy in the occupied territories since the Six Day War as the most self-damaging project in the history of Zionism. It is Israel's (and Jewry's) very own "March of Folly" and satisfies all of Tuchman's criteria.
Prescient and Unintelligible to Neo-Cons.......2007-06-24
Barbara Tuchman wrote this book to illustrate some of the worst examples of leadership throughout history. She retells the mythical story of Trojan defeat, Papal life that spawned the Reformation, British obtuseness that lost America and the U.S. experience in Vietnam. Although casual readers of history have heard these tales before, Tuchman's version is original and trenchant with a touch of weary sarcasm.
The origins of the Reformation are usually told from Luther's viewpoint, but Tuchman sketches the Popes' lifestyles and family conections from 1470-1530. It was an era when civil and religious warlords were so drawn to the demonstration of opulence and power that the Popes could no more represent Christ's message than mafia dons. Michaelangelo asked Julius II if he should be painted with a book in hand. "Put a sword there," he replied. "I know nothing of letters."
Most Americans have heard the improbable success-story of the Revolution, but Tuchman relates the story from Parliament where the British ruling class exerted their perogatives. America was only a newspaper item to the titled Brits- not one in position of authority ever set foot here- unless he commanded an army. This peek at Royal Britain goes a long way to explain why they were so determined to bend America to their laws and interests. Of course there were distinguished Cassandras among them- Pitt, Burke, Barre and others- But, all were ignored.
America became the fool in the 20th century when she tried to prop up a corrupt and incompetent faction in South Vietnam. I was surprised to to read that all Presidents involved had plenty of warning about the tenacity of the North, the ineffectiveness of our bombing, the futility of "Vietnamization, the ultimate harm we were doing to our country... Somehow we inveigled leaders who would lie and misrepresent only to dig a deeper hole. They persisted to "work the levers" even when they knew it was a lost cause.
If Ms. Tuchman were alive and able to update this work, Junior Bush's war would provide the perfect fodder. His war fits so many descriptives that could be applied to previous follies. And yet, the millions of Americans who remembered Vietnam and saw the similarities with Iraq were unable to stop it. I'll close with a quote from Tuchman that is about Vietnam, but is relevant to many ill-conceived conflicts: "The follies...begin with continuous over-reacting: in the invention of endangered 'national security,' the invention of 'vital interest,' the invention of a 'commitment' which rapidly assumed a life of its own, casting a spell over the inventor."
You can count on one hand the factors leading to folly, but...........2007-06-06
...it still persists. Tuchman lays out the history of 4 events - Troy, The Reformation, The US revolution, and The US Vietnam "War" - in her usual comprehensive detail. If you don't want the facts and the facts that lead to the facts, dont bother reading BT. She will bore you. If you are curious as to how history and events evolve, then she delivered again with this one.
What leads to Folly (defined as a group acting contrary to their own best interests) - self-interest over public interests, belief in the monopoly of power, belief that abndonment of the current course will lead to ruin.
An interesting conclusion I drew from this was that open systems that feared their own demise and debated it actually survived and grew stronger. The British Empire expanded for the 100 years after US rebellion, while there were many who believed it would crumble without the American colonies. Many in US policy circles believed that Communist agression, if not checked in Vietnam, would lead to the demise of free and open societies. Clearly events unfolded otherwise.
The open debate of folly in a society leads to progress as in the case of The British Empire and The US. The lack of debate led to the destruction of Troy, and the persistent decline in power of the RC Church since the Renassaince.
All leaders would do well to take heed...
Will the folly ever end?.......2007-05-17
"The March of Folly" is a book that is sure to get readers thinking about why countries can sometimes do absurd things that wound them badly. This book focuses on the phenomenon of the (page 4) ". . .pursuit by governments of policies contrary to their own interest." She asserts that misgovernment has four facets: (a) tyranny or oppression; (b) excessive ambition; (c) incompetence or decadence; (d) folly or perversity. This book focuses on the final aspect of misgovernment.
To be counted as folly, the policy enacted must meet three standards: (1) it is counter-productive in its own time and not just apparent after-the-fact; (2) practical and feasible alternatives had to be available; (3) the policy in question is not adopted by one person but is part of a group process. A part of this process is what she colorfully terms "wooden-headedness," which (page 7) ". . .consists in assessing a situation in terms of preconceived fixed notions while ignoring or rejecting any contrary signs. It is acting according to wish while not allowing oneself to be deflected by the facts." It reflects what psychologists refer to as "confirmation bias," the tendency to accept data consistent with one's views and reject information not compatible with preexisting perspectives.
The book considers four illustrations. The first is the Wooden Horse that the Greek besieging forces introduced into Troy. This fits Tuchman's definition of folly--it had immediate repercussions harmful to the Trojans' interests; there were simple alternatives available (not bringing the horse inside the city's walls; the decision was the result of group deliberation and discussion. And the result was disaster for Troy, of course.
The second example is the Renaissance Popes making decisions that led to the Protestant movement and the split in Christendom. The third case study is the British loss of America, as a result of the Revolutionary War.
The final instance is America's involvement in Viet Nam. Was this folly? The withdrawal of the United States from Viet Nam had immediate effects, with the fall of the South Vietnamese government and corrosive effects on the United States' national interest; there were other alternatives available than sending in massive numbers of troops and huge amounts of materials; no single person got the United States fully involved in Viet Nam; it was the result of many decisions, spread out over time. Was Viet Nam policy folly? While some disagree now, many more would contend that this case well illustrates folly.
Can one extend the analysis to the American policy toward Iraq? Is there enough evidence to suggest wooden-headedness (or confirmation bias) by the Administration? Is the engagement in Iraq counterproductive to America's national interest? Are there feasible alternatives to the status quo? Was the policy adopted by just one person or was it the result of numerous decision-makers deliberations? We can certainly answer the last question in the affirmative. As to the first three questions, each reader would have to make up his or her own mind. But the book can provoke such reflection, whether considering Iraq or other major policy choices. This book is well worth looking at.
Book Description
What would you do if you lived in a community without a library, hospital, post office, or fire department? If you were Benjamin Franklin, youd set up these organizations yourself. Franklin also designed the lightning rod, suggested the idea of daylight savings time, and invented bifocalsall inspired by his common sense and intelligence. In this informative book, Gene Barretta brings Benjamin Franklins genius to life, deepening our appreciation for one of the most influential figures in American history.
Customer Reviews:
Very nice book!.......2007-07-06
This cleverly written and nicely illustrated book was enjoyed by my son, and taught me several things about Ben Franklin I didn't know! It shows how Ben's cool ideas are still in use today, without feeling like a history lesson.
Disappointed.......2007-01-09
For the price that I paid for the book I was expecting much more. The book had good information but few pages. It would be better if it were printed as a soft cover book and the price reduced considerably!
Now & Ben.......2007-01-07
This book has great illustrations. The students I teach spent time looking through all of the details. The stories are accurate and include a fun sense of humor. Students from grade 4-6 also enjoyed the book.
Big Ben.......2006-05-24
Ben Franklin's probably the #1 subject of picture book biographies that cross my desk. He's picturesque -- both visually and as a bio subject. This is the first book I've chosen to review, however, because of its clever format and quirky execution.
On one side is "Now" -- the modern amenities we take for granted, such as odometers, second hands, bifocals, lightening rods and even public libraries. The "Ben" side shows Franklin puttering, tinkering, and hunkering down over his inventions, which include all of the above, plus charting the Gulf Stream, organizing the Post Office, and all that fun with lightening and kites and stuff.
Such a clever fellow, that Ben!
And that's not even getting into his statesmanship and political thinking, which the author treats lightly to focus on the man's inventive genius.
The "Now" side of the page is perky and vibrant in bright blues, while Franklin's 18th century half is awash in faded siennas, the color of aging documents, except for Ben in his blue coat, creating a visual link between our era and his.
I know from the brief time I lived in a Philly suburb how omnipresent are the many reminders of the man's influence, from Indepedence Hall to the Franklin Museum. The city's infused with awe for the man who was arguably our nuttiest Founding Father. But aren't the oddballs the ones you most want to know?
Like Barretta, a Philly resident, you won't be able to resist getting better acquainted.
My children loved it!!!.......2006-03-25
My children (ages 6 - 10) loved the story of Ben Franklin. They enjoyed learning of Ben's inventions and it was fun to talk about how they have evolved over time. The children especially loved the last scene depicting how things will evolve as they grow older. The illustrations and colors on every page were great for the imagination and provided so much insight to every part of the story. Great Job. A+
Book Description
Inventing Modern America profiles thirty-five inventors who exemplify the rich technological creativity of the United States over the past century. The range of their contributions is broad. They have helped transform our homes, our healthcare, our work, our environment, and the way we travel and communicate.
The inventors profiled include such well-known figures as George Washington Carver, Henry Ford, and Steve Wozniak, as well as unsung technological pioneers such as Stephanie Kwolek, inventor of Kevlar, and Wilson Greatbatch, inventor of the first implantable cardiac pacemaker.
Inventing Modern America is designed to create excitement about invention through the personal stories of these American scientists, technologists, and researchers. It is accessible enough to engage high school students yet wide-ranging and interesting enough to appeal to anyone who has ever wondered where microwave ovens and traffic lights come from.
The book was developed by the Lemelson-MIT Program for Invention and Innovation, whose mission is to inspire a new generation of American scientists, engineers, and entrepreneurs.
Customer Reviews:
Great Way To Inspire Young Inventors!.......2003-02-26
If your child is heading off to higher education, or is just looking for a book that has some great information for a middle to high school book report, a parent can't go wrong with the book "Inventing Modern America: From The Microwave To The Mouse" by David E. Brown (2002, MIT Press, 209 Pages).
One of the features that grab the reader right off the bat is the fact that the book centers upon modern innovations, such as that friendly little gadget that makes home computer use such a joy--otherwise known as a `mouse'. Another great inclusion is the contributions of Black inventors, such as Dr. George Washington Carver and Garrett Morgan. No, we are not talking about just a `paragraph or two', we are talking about royal treatment of each of the inventors contained within its covers--including glimpses at other inventions by featured inventors.
Of course, to a real info-junkie, the book is too short. However, it does provide a lot of inspiration to those who have the talent and the drive to invent. It is an encouraging work, as it talks not only about the successes of each inventor and innovator, the book is full of diagrams, photos, and pictures of many other inventions by those selected for discussion.
If you are looking for a book to encourage and uplift your future inventor, you can't go wrong with presenting a copy of this work to your son or daughter--or even as a gift for yourself, if you have that hidden desire to want to create a better mousetrap; or even improving upon something that already exists. It is a reference book that will keep on giving, and inspiring long after its purchase. I highly recommend it.
Mike Ramey
Best book ever!.......2001-12-03
this was the best book i have ever read in my entire life! it really made me think about were all this stuff we use in our everyday life comes from. 3, no 4 thumbs up!
Best book i ever read!!!!!!!!!!!!!.......2001-12-03
this was such a cool book. i mean, i never really thought about the beginnings of these famous things before, but now this book got me thing. 3 thumbs up!
Book Description
Promises for the future were made; some sadly broken and some unfortunately honored. While we didn't get household jetpacks and personal serving-drinks-by-the-pool robots, or even our orgasmatrons, we did get things like the super-fantastic building materials of the future-asbestos, lead, and foam.
So just what was the utopian master plan for future households during the early twentieth century? Follies of Science is the keeper of such knowledge, offering glimpses into sparkling, smooth lead paint covering our living room walls, dazzling DDT foggers killing mosquitoes dead, alchemists transforming atoms into gold and diamonds, homeowners living in "The Foam House of the Future," and, of course, commuters blasting away on their jet packs to work. Utopian indeed.
Aptly illustrated with full-color and black-and-white classic imagery, the visions of the future spread across page after page, pulling the reader in to what could have been and what shouldn't have been.
Eric Dregni has written nine books, including Midwest Marvels, The Scooter Bible, Ads that Put America on Wheels, and Grazie a Dio non sono bolognese. As a 2004 Fulbright Fellow to the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim, Dregni researched Scandinavian culture and roots for a forthcoming book. His time is divided between Italy, Norway, and Minneapolis where he is the curator for El Dorado Conquistador Museum and guitarist for the mock-rock trio Vinnie & the Stardusters.
Jonathan Dregni is a futurist and sci-fi enthusiast, raising a family midway between the soon-to-be domed cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul Minnesota.
Customer Reviews:
The folly of buying Follies of Science.......2007-04-24
Filled with errors of fact (e.g.,a navy "general", an autogyro described as a combination helicopter and car, etc.)as well as multiple egregious typos. Illustrations (many from old science fiction pulp magazines) lack dates and citations for the most part.
Skepticism.......2007-02-20
Lots of nice pictures. Okay for the loo. I'm only on page twenty of the text but have perused the pictures and captions. At this point, though, upon reading text about which I know some things, I will have to be skeptical about the things I don't know much about.
For instance, I don't know what a "cooling rod" is doing in an atomic submarine, but I do know that Admiral Rickover's proposed design for the first nuclear powered sub USS Nautilus had an isolated cooling loop of pH treated nearly pure pressurized water. We've all seen the footage of him pointing out the components in a tabletop mockup with a pretty petty officer at his side.
Also, the washdown systems of US Navy ships (not just aircraft carriers) will indeed be useful in case of nuclear fallout, chemical attack, or biological attack. Why is that a "headscratcher" to the Dregni Brothers?
I, like the Navy "general," would happily keep a nameplate of uranium on my desk. What problem do the authors have with that?
Please, an expedient way to purify water is to dig two dry wells a foot or so apart. Fill one well with contaminated water. The water that seeps into the other well will be significantly decontaminated. (This can also be done at the beach of a contaminated pond.)
Perusing pictures else in the book I find many mistakes about things nuclear/radioactive. Is this advocacy or ignorance? Are the authors Luddites about the other topics in the book? I'll have to keep that in mind as I read the rest (if I can).
Deadly "Pure" Uranium!.......2007-02-16
I gave up on this one as crap when I read the account of how atomic submarines used to cool their reactors with seawater, which was then exhausted overboard. (Hot, radioactive seawater -- just what I want to run over my reactor elements! Ri-i-ight...) That was followed by a description of how the U.S. Navy "general" in charge of atomic submarines was oblivious to environmental concerns because he kept a chunk of "pure uranium" on his desk.
Good illustrations cannot make up for gross ignorance of the subject matter.
Fun, but not profound.......2007-01-12
Lots of wonderful graphics from the fifties; the old prophetic images are sufficient reason to have this book. The informational content is not well-informed; the authors are clearly not experts in the areas of discussion, but their considerable research uncovered many interesting factoids. The overall fun-factor makes up for any lackings.
Fine, but..........2007-01-04
While the illustrations are fine, the could have been more of them and in a bigger format. However, this is nit-picking. An intriguing look back at some of the nice dreams that never quite made it.
Book Description
Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel's discovery of dynamite made possible the famous industrial megaprojects that transformed the countryside and defined the era, including the St. Gothard rail tunnel through the Alps, the clearing of New York harbor, the Panama Canal, and countless others. Dynamite also caused terrible injuries and great loss of life, and, in some cases, incalculable and irreparable environmental damage. Nobel was one of the richest men in a society rapidly transforming under the power of his invention, but with a troubled conscience, he left his estate to the establishment of the world-famous prizes that bear his name.
As the use of explosives soared and growing populations consumed more food, nations scrambled for the scarce yet vital organic ingredient needed for both. The quest for nitrates takes us from the rural stables and privies of preindustrial Europe to the monopoly trading plantations in India and to the Atacama Desert in South America. Nitrates were as valuable in the nineteenth century as oil is in the twenty-first and were the cause of similar international jockeying and power politics.
The "nitrogen problem" of creating inorganic nitrates was solved by an enigmatic German scientist named Fritz Haber. His breakthrough not only prolonged the First World War but became the foundation of the green revolution and the tripling of world population since then. Haber is also known as the "father of gas warfare" for his work on poison gas. When he was awarded a Nobel Prize for his work in chemistry, it sparked international outrage and condemnation.
A Most Damnable Invention is a human tale of scientific obsession, shadowy immorality, and historical irony, and a testament to the capacity for human ingenuity during times of war.
Customer Reviews:
Most Damnable Invention.......2006-11-18
I enjoyed this book. Very well written and explanatory. I was never bored by a continuos or lengthy explanation.
Dynamite's explosive changes to the world.......2006-03-13
The age of explosives, which heralded the more sophisticated warfare choices of modern times, began in the mid-1800s with the inventions of one Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, whose discovery of dynamite made possible industrial changes and explosives. A MOST DAMNABLE INVENTION: DYNAMITE, NITRATES, AND THE MAKING OF THE MODERN WORLD surveys the many changes the discovery of dynamite brought to the world; from the environmental damage it caused to the wealth it brought to its inventor, whose remorseful conscience led him to leave his estate to the establishment of the prizes which bear his name today. Nitrates were next on the list of discoveries, fostered by German scientist Fritz Haber whose breakthrough prolonged the First World War and helped triple the population of the world. No understanding of warfare or civilization's advancement would be complete without A MOST DAMNABLE INVENTION: DYNAMITE, NITRATES, AND THE MAKING OF THE MODERN WORLD in hand.
A World-shaking Invention & Earth-shaking Warfare........2005-12-19
Swedish chemist Alfred Novel is the inventor of dynamite, meant to do the job gunpowder couldn't in a more explosive way. Gunpowder's potency and power cam from containment. While visiting in Luray Caverns thirty years ago, I first learned of saltpeter deep in the earth beneath the soil, described as the soul, sulphur the life, and charcoal the body of gunpowder. The Old English poets, John Milton and Samuel Coleridge, called sulphur a metaphor for the devil. Our local researcher of old Knoxville history wrote a two-part 1905 Christmastime horror story of kids playing with toy guns which would shoot real bullets. One of these toy guns, loaded with .22 shellls, exploded into half a dozen pieces, and the bullets fired from such could and did puncture a person's heart.
First, he tried nitroglycerin-fortified gunpowder in his experiments. They were seeking a smokeless, powerful "alternative to gunpowder...easy to store and transport" which Nobel was able to concoct in his French laboratory. Using nitrates from Chile who had taken over the plant in Atacama Desert from both Peru and Bolivia in 1880, used for fertilizer -- after guano (became a generic term for any fertilizer made from decaying bird feces regardless of its quality) was deemed too harmful to humans, causing thousands of workers' deaths in Peru. Nitrates are still used in fertilizer and was made into explosives by the Oklahoma City bomber.
"Dynamite was ideally shaped for insertion into bore holes, radically improving the productivity of mining, [marble] quarrying, and tunneling." It was also used in America to build the interstate highway systems to get rid of the multitude of enormous rockbeds in the right-of-way. It was needed by the "escalated demand brought about by the remarkable proliferation of high explosives." Dynamite ushered in a new era of industry and mining, also fantastic fireworks of which some plants have exploded and killed workers in this area.
It became the most sought after explosive in the world, and Nobel with his Nobel's Explosives Company, presided over a mighty industrial empire and accumulated a vast fortune. It was patented under two names, dynamite (after the Greek 'dynamas' for "strength" and Nobel's Safety Powder). He was "the chief progenitor of nearly every advance in the development of explosives during the late 19th century, yet he spent more time battling to protect his intellectual property than he did on research." His work and inventions, "though truly revolutionary in their near immediate impact on society, were astonishingly simple in concept and very easy to duplicate." In 1870, he said, "Even with such a luxury of patents, the protection in most cases would be illusory. I therefore propose giving the patenting of chemical improvements the name 'Taxation of inventors for the encouragement of Parasites'."
Despite ballistite being Nobel's greatest technical achievement and source of pride, it was to bring him only "disappointment and sorrow." When he died in 1896, he left his vast fortune to fund the Nobel Prizes. In 1917, Winston Churchill made this statement, "To utilize fully [Britain's] existing high explosive plants, it is necessary that we should ship from Chile approximately 788,000 tons of nitrates with the tonnage of only 600,000 agreed upon. New and very serious demands for TNT are also being made by the Admiralty for mines."
One of his Nobel prize winners (in 1920 for Physics) was Fritz Haber, known as the father of gas warfare." He'd completed research on ammonia synthesis, and developed synthetic nitrogen; his discovery "subtly yet radically altered the world by supplying unlimited nitrates for explosives and fertilizers." He also was awarded the Novel Prize in 1919 for Chemistry, the first postwar award for such. During the years of 1916 and 1917, the awards had been cancelled. "Twenty years later, Carl Bosch was also awarded a Nobel Prize for his role in adapting and expanding Haber's original model. L. F. Haber detailed his work on poison gas (used in both World Wars) in THE POISONOUS CLOUD.
In addition to this history of weapons and biographies of these two scientists who made earth-changing discoveries, Stephen R. Bown, a Canadian, has previously written THE AGE OF SCURVY, THE NATURALISTS and MOVING IN CANADA.
The Boom in Boom.......2005-12-06
Each year we are treated to the announcements of the Nobel Prizes, and are invited to consider the irony particularly of the Peace Prize founded by Alfred Nobel who made his fortune perfecting explosives. While some might argue that explosives have brought victory and peace, their immediate effects are simply destruction, even in the cases of destruction directed toward non-lethal activities like making tunnels or canals. Our ambivalent relationship to explosives has been constant ever since we have had them, and is a key part of the story in _A Most Damnable Invention: Dynamite, Nitrates, and the Making of the Modern World_ (Thomas Dunn Books) by Stephen R. Bown. You would not expect this to be an exciting story, when you learn that a large part of it has to do with such things as compost and bird droppings and their strategic importance. Bown makes the case, though, that finding better explosives, and ways to tame them to our use, has been one of the foundations of our modern world.
Bown starts with black powder, and its manufacture from sulfur, charcoal, and saltpeter, the last one, the supply of potassium nitrate to the mix, being difficult to get, as its formation from decomposition was not well understood. The hunger for the potassium nitrate of saltpeter grew gradually over the centuries, but then expanded due to scientific and technical advances in the nineteenth century. In 1864, Alfred Nobel began making nitroglycerine, which had been invented in Italy twenty years before, in his family laboratory in Stockholm. It was dangerous, and there was an international public outcry against Nobel and his efforts. In an attempt to tame nitroglycerine, Nobel tried combining it with inert ingredients, and found that a particular clay could be mixed with it to make the most stable explosive. Nitrates from organic sources only became more valuable. Bown estimates that Germany would have run out of armaments by 1916 if it had relied only on imported nitrates (mostly guano), but the second important chemist of this tale found an innovative way to get them in another fashion. After all, nitrogen is all around us, about 80% of the air we breathe, so there is an abundant supply. Extracting it from the air, however, was a goal unmet until Fritz Haber found a way to use high pressures and temperatures to get atmospheric nitrogen and hydrogen to combine into ammonia, to which oxygen could be combined on the way to making nitric acid. It was enough to prolong Germany's participation in the war, and Haber also developed a way of releasing chlorine gas, making him known as "The Father of Gas Warfare".
Both Nobel and Haber justified their efforts not only by stressing the peacetime use of explosives, which are many and valuable, but also by the rationalization that making armaments more effective and terrible was really a humane effort that would shorten wars and result in fewer lives lost in the long run. Haber never saw the futility of such self-justification, and never had qualms over his work, but Nobel did. Nobel wrote, "I wish all guns with their belongings and everything could be sent to hell, which is the proper place for their exhibition and use." The guns were not restricted to that theater, of course, and Nobel became enormously rich. His peculiar will setting up the Nobel Prizes might be seen as some sort of attempt at atonement. Explosives, like all our gadgets, are neither good nor bad; the uses to which they are put determine that. Bown explains that they are only reflections of the duality of the human mind: "On the one hand, murderous, frightening, and destructive; on the other hand, optimistic, determined, and wildly inventive." Their story, dramatically told here with much insight into human cleverness and human folly, is an important one in understanding human civilization.
Interesting Information.... Oddly Put Together.......2005-11-01
There is much interesting information presented in this book. The topic of explosives is discussed from earliest times to essentially the end of World War I. The contributions of Alfred Nobel are particularly prominent, as are those of Fritz Haber towards the end of the book. The author's focus is mainly on the historical, political and sociological aspects rather than the technical and scientific details of the various inventions - in other words, no detailed recipes or chemical formulas of explosives are provided. The only aspect of this book with which I had some difficulty is its timeline which is rather erratic. The author zigzags from medieval times to the nineteenth century, then back to olden times then back again to more modern times, etc. Other than possibly being somewhat annoying for some readers, this format has resulted in a certain amount of repetition of some of the facts. Nevertheless, this odd quirk does not detract from the fact that the book does contain much very interesting information. It should be of great interest to history buffs, particularly those interested in the history of science and technology.
Amazon.com
Nobody can complain that the 1900s were boring. Author Stephen Van Dulken observes the transition away from industrial society and past the information age through the world's patent offices in Inventing the Twentieth Century. This collection of 100 brief glimpses into important or oddball inventions is organized by decade, so the reader can see that while some things have changed dramatically--from the electric washing machine to Dolly the cloned sheep in just 86 years--others remain static, like our still-fervent quest for the perfect teabag.
Each entry consists of a page of text describing the patent and a facing page of diagrams from the application, some of which are perplexing or amusing. From the frivolous (snowboard) to the deadly serious (genetic fingerprinting) and even lifesaving (Viagra--?), Van Dulken collects inventions with the widest interest to a general audience. Each decade's section is introduced with a brief contextual exposition that lays the groundwork for understanding the circumstances that permitted each inventor's inspiration to strike. Inventing the Twentieth Century is great fun to read, but it also challenges its readers and inspires thinking about technology and our collective future. Let's hear it for pleasant surprises! --Rob Lightner
Book Description
"Remarkable . . . get the book for yourself. It'll hold you for many hours."
—Wall Street Journal
"A fascinating compendium for trivia seekers."
—Publishers Weekly
"Highly entertaining . . . In addition to being able to tell a good story, van Dulken . . . easily assembles complex ideas from chemistry and engineering and makes them palatable for the lay person. Van Dulken has assembled a panoramic snapshot of the century. By giving us a picture of our past, van Dulken also presents our future."
—Boston Globe
"One more treasure trove for trivia addicts."
—Herald-Republic
Imagine your average day without zippers, airplanes or vacuum cleaners, without your clock radio or your personal stereo, without photocopiers. All of these devices were invented within the last hundred years and have since transformed our daily landscape.
Drawing on The British Library's vast and comprehensive collection of patents, this handsomely illustrated book recounts the history of 100 of the most significant inventions of the century, decade by decade.
From the photocopier to the Slinky, from genetic fingerprinting to the Lava Lamp, from the ballpoint pen to the fuel cell,
Inventing the Twentieth Century is an informative, illuminating window onto the technology of the twentieth century. It's the perfect gift book for every inventor and tinkerer in your life!
"A wonderful book"
—L.A. Daily Breeze, Oct. 19, 2001
Customer Reviews:
Excellent.......2007-01-04
I got this as a gift for a friend who is an Engineer and holds many patents of his own. He loves this kind of stuff and thought this was a fantastically fun, interesting and informative book!
Past 100 years re-introduced.......2006-12-03
It is for certain that the world has taken gigantic leaps and bounds during the past one hundred years, making up what we know as the 20th century. Author Stephen Van Dulken successfully summarizes the major historical events and technological breakthroughs, starting with the year 1900 and leading up to 1999, in his enlightening book Inventing the 20th Century. It is an easy, fast, read keeping the reader continuously amused with numerous ground-breaking discoveries and the stories behind them.
Dubbing the 20th century as the age of `energy,' Van Dulken crafts a highly entertaining text, giving us a brief glimpse of 100 influential inventions categorized by decade. During this century, we journeyed into space with invention of the jet engine, split an atom, created the transistor radio, cloned a sheep, and came up with the ideas of wind and solar energy.
Each invention is introduced with a one page description of the how the idea came about, describing the patent process, as well as, a facing page of very interesting diagrams. The inventions are prefaced by a two page, stirring, historical, summary of the decade from around the world. Unfortunately, the majority of the history and inventions mentioned in the book are primarily focused in North America and Europe. Understandably, as the international super-powers, resources were more prevalent, as Phillips acknowledges in the introduction. However, it would be nice to see some inventions coming from less powerful areas of the world.
As a whole,Van Dulken does a suburb job of giving the reader a panoramic view of the 20th century, re-introducing us to the past 100 years with an emphasis on the creative ideas people have developed. From the invention of the television to the Post-it note, each has impacted the world greatly. Van Dulken has re-invented our history through his book, allowing the reader to visualize how certain innovative ideas have come into existence, some changing throughout the years while others remaining static. Ultimately, we are challenged to meditate on technology and the exciting future before us. Where will we be after the next 100 years? We will just have to wait for Van Dulken's next fascinating book.
100 Inventions that shaped the world? Hardly........2001-06-12
The subtitle to Van Dulken's "Inventing the 20th Century" is "100 inventions that shaped the world." True, the airplane, jet engine, automatic transmission, and microchip, among others, certainly have changed the world. But I find it hard to accept that Silly Putty and the Slinky fall into that category. His 100 inventions include many other inventions of questionable worth and pedigree, including several British ones that few Americans would recognize. In many instances the inventions cited by patents were not the ones that turned into the products that we are now familiar with, and his discriptions were often difficult to follow, in part because the auther writes more like a patent attorney than a historian or storyteller. The stories of many of the most significant inventions were already well known to me ---- their stories have been better told in other books, articles or documentaries that I've seen or read over the years. The more obscure inventions were not presented in any more exciting manner. The fault may have been in the author being limited by the format of one or two pages of narrative for each invention. The overall effect was that of a bland, incomplete and unsatisfying meal. You're left feeling hungry but without a desire to consume any more.
"Intellectual Capital" with Global Impact.......2001-03-18
This is one of those rare books which is as entertaining as it is informative. Van Dulken selects and discusses "100 inventions that shaped the world", organizing his material within ten chapters to correspond with the ten decades of the 20th century:
1900-1910 (e.g. aeroplane, air conditioning, and the vacuum cleaner)
1910-1919 (e.g. Formica®, neon lighting, and the self-service supermarket
1920-1929 (e.g. the bread slicing machine, power steering, and television
1930-1939 (e.g. the jet engine, the photocopier, and radar
1940-1949 (e.g. the ballpoint pen, the computer, and the transistor
1950-1959 (e.g. the geodesic dome, the microchip, and Velcro® fasteners)
1960-1969 (e.g. implantable pacemaker, the mouse, and the Workmate® workbench) 1970-1979 (e.g. the artificial heart, Post-it® notes, and the smart card)
1980-1989 (e.g. cellular phones, genetic fingerprinting, and the video game)
1990-1999 (e.g. cloning animals, fuel cells, and programmable materials)
Van Dulken discusses ten different inventions in each of the ten chapters, providing detailed descriptions as well as explanations of the historical context in which each was devised and by whom. In the Introduction by Andrew Phillips, the reader is told that the inventions highlighted in this book "have benefitted people of virtually every nation. Some have helped combat the despair of disease, poverty, excessive (even unendurable) labour. Other inventions -- though less illustrated by this book --have contributed to the ravages of war. What comes forth so often, however, from the examples described here is the individuality and initiative which characterizes so many inventors who helped change the world between 1900 and 1999." Quite true. Those who share my high regard for this book are urged to check out Mokyr's The Lever of Riches and Novak's The Fire of Invention.
Book Description
Philosophy of Science
Isabelle Stengers The Invention of Modern Science Translated by Daniel W. Smith
A proposal for better understanding the nature of scientific endeavor from a major European thinker.
The so-called exact sciences have always claimed to be different from other forms of knowledge. How are we to evaluate this assertion? Should we try to identify the criteria that seem to justify it? Or, following the new model of the social study of the sciences, should we view it as a simple belief? The Invention of Modern Science proposes a fruitful way of going beyond these apparently irreconcilable positions, that science is either "objective" or "socially constructed." Instead, suggests Isabelle Stengers, one of the most important and influential philosophers of science in Europe, we might understand the tension between scientific objectivity and belief as a necessary part of science, central to the practices invented and reinvented by scientists.
"Stengers has chosen to look for a touchstone distinguishing good science from bad not in epistemology but in ontology, not in the word but in the world." Bruno Latour
Isabelle Stengers is associate professor of philosophy at the Free University of Brussels. She received the grand prize for philosophy from the Academie Franaise in 1993, and is the author of numerous books, including Power and Invention (Minnesota, 1997).
Daniel W. Smith has translated many books, including several works by the philosopher Gilles Deleuze.
Book Description
Now in paperback, an "unforgettably good book [told] with compassion and sympathy" (Simon Winchester, New York Times) about an eccentric aviator and the thrilling early days of flight.From Paul Hoffman, the acclaimed author of The Man Who Loved Only Numbers, comes this engaging true story of the man who was once hailed worldwide as the conqueror of the air -- Alberto Santos-Dumont. Because the Wright brothers worked in secrecy, word of their first flights had not reached Europe when Santos-Dumont took to the skies in 1906. The dashing and impeccably dressed aeronaut stunned and delighted Paris, barhopping around the city in a one-man dirigible he invented, circling above crowds and crashing into rooftops.Yet Santos-Dumont was a frenzied genius tortured by the weight of his own creation. Wings of Madness is a riveting, brilliantly told story of this tormented man who helped to usher in the modern age and who epitomized the increasingly tortured spirit of the twentieth century -- it is elegant, fascinating, and deeply moving.
Customer Reviews:
Santos-Dumont: Brazilian Hero.......2006-01-12
This is not just a great biography of Santos-Dumont: Hoffman covers the history of balloon flight, the development of heavier-than-air airplane flight, and gives a nice historical perspective to the cultural, military, and social milieu of the time period. At the end of the book Hoffman provides an epilogue describing his his research and trips to Brazil where, even to this day, he received a warm welcome from Brazilians who would like to see the Santos-Dumont name mentioned in the same breath as the Wright Brothers. As Hoffman points out, Santos-Dumont missed being the first person to fly an airplane by a matter of months.
Santos-Dumont is portrayed as a Brazilian hero. He is also portrayed in three dimension. Santos-Dumont is never actually labeled as gay, but from Hoffman's descriptions he probably was. He shunned women's advances, decorated his living quarters in feminine design, even his appearance was slightly feminine. Journalists of the early 20th century liked to point out the contrast between Santos-Dumont's private and public persona, the contrast between his dainty personality and his macho, death-defying aerial experiments.
And don't forget, the thread weaving in and out of this whole story is that Santos-Dumont was mentally ill (hence the title of the book), and this unfortunate circumstance affected his life, too. Hoffman covers it all.
All in all, an engaging book about an obscure hero that I would probably never have known about about unless I moved to Brazil or read this book. Hoffman does an excellent job introducing the history of aviation through the eyes of an obscure Brazilian pioneer. With this book, Santos-Dumont only begins to get his due.
Great storyteller - needed some help with technical stuff.......2005-12-03
Mr. Hoffman is a great storyteller/historian. His descriptions of the times in which Mr. Dumont lived were excellent. It was a different world back then! He does a great job of conveying the excitement Mr. Dumont and the people of Paris had for manned flight.
However, the author should have gotten an engineer or at least physicist, to review the book and make some corrections. Any time Mr. Hoffman got at least a wee bit into the scientific/engineering aspects of flight, he was just completely full of it. Just leave it out next time, rather than talk about, to paraphrase, the strain in the balloon fabric due to force! It's simply stress in a thin-walled pressure vessel - not actually very difficult.
The description of the Wright Bros.' wing-warping was entirely bogus - something about the right wing turning faster than the left. Dude, wing-warping was the precursor to ailerons, and they are very easy to explain without much aerodynamics.
I also think the author demeaned the Wright Brothers early on for trying to make money from their invention of powered flight. What's the problem with that? They did engineering type experimentation (building the first wind tunnel even) and did lots of other hard work for years to create the first manned, controllable, powered airplane. People make money selling pet rocks, too.
There should be a bit of background on the dirigibles of Mr. Von Hindenburg and his croud too, as they were doing actual engineering and building practical flying ships, as opposed to Mr. Dumont, who was not anything like an engineer, just a dreamer with a lot of money.
Anyway, this would be a 5 star book, except for the lack of any technical knowledge by the author. It is very readable.
Lastly, for the Brazilian patriot reviewers: Yes, the guy killed himself, no, he was not the inventor of manned, heavier-than-air flight, but he was indeed a very neat and courageous fellow.
Santos Dumont a Brazilian Indiana Jones.......2004-05-16
The beauty of this book is that reading it, you will feel going back in time, participating in the life and adventures of Mr. Santos Dumont.
The author did a very good work in presenting not only history, but recreating the personality of Alberto Santos Dumont, a man that is totally focused on his inventions.
As I read the book I found many reasons to think that Mr. Steven Spielberg would have material for a very good film....Santos Dumont was quite a man, great imagination, and a truly courageous person.
Hoffman descriptions of the way inventors in the end of the XIX century risked their lives, to develop and use the new technologies of their time, provides a good framework to understand Santos Dumont behavior, risking his life on many experiments for the good of mankind.
My perspective as to where Santos Dumont should be placed in aviation history differs from most Brazilians. The airplane was the product of several inventions done by different people, each one contributing with a piece of the puzzle. There is room for the accomplishments of many inovators, like Otto Lillienthal, the Wright Brothers, Alberto Santos Dumont, Glenn Curtiss... and many others.
I think Hoffman gives a balanced view of aviation history and Santos Dumont accomplishments.
The book is worth reading and you will enjoy it.
"Wings of Madness" good review.......2004-03-10
Alberto Santos-Dumont was a great man with good ideas. He met with the President of the USA in the white house when he was making Zeppelin. He was the creator of an Airplane that is heavier than air and a Wrist Watch which we still using it today. Like in the book it is saying that he flew a longer distance than the Wrights.
England asked Dumont and the Wrights for a long distance test flight, and the Wrights turned it down, because they were concerned about the airplane not being strong enough. It is sad that a great creator like Dumont doesn't receive the credit he deserves, but he receive critics from others. This is a great book in commemorating Santos Dumont for his ideas and his life.
rkrb is crazy!!!!!!.......2003-12-18
This is an excellent book. First of all, I would probably recommend that "rkrb" read the book again. Santos Dumont is truly the "Father of Aviation", the main purpose of his discoveries was to provide a different way of transportation. Santos Dumont was focused on the advance of transportation to humans, and not to make money, he did not care about patente or anything like that. And Second, he did not kill himself after seen a airplane throwing bombs, there was never a bombing in Brazil. Santos Dumonts died due to health problems, and not because of mental problems.
Santos Dumonts was a great man, and not only to Brazilians, but to most of europeans, who just like Brazilians do not even know the wright brothers.
Over all, the book is fantastic.
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