Customer Reviews

The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind: Creating Currents of Electricity and Hope (P.S.)

5 star:		(154)
4 star:		(26)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is the story of William Kamkwamba, a clever boy in Malawi, Africa who built his own windmill from found materials at age 14. Much of the energy of the book is that it is a very recent story, the main events taking place just in the last six years.

The story is in three parts. The first part tells of Willam's life growing up and that of his father, giving a fascinating glimpse of the village life of subsistence farmers whose culture has changed little in thousands of years. Daily existence includes very real fears of witchcraft, shamans for healing, and strong currents of superstition. Although written in clear, simple narrative (mostly by the co-author, Bryan Mealer, an AP reporter with extensive experience across Africa), it is by no means a child's bedtime story. Malawi, an interior country of 13 million, has minimal health care, primitive agriculture, and no free public high schools. Villagers can be killed by wild animals in the forest. In 2001 the maize crops failed, plunging the countryside into famine and near social collapse, and William loses friends to disease and starvation. The government comes off badly in this episode, incompetent, brutal against the local village chief who complains, and corrupt.

William is a bright boy eager for school, but his family cannot afford the fees. He is forced to drop out. In the second part of the story, doing the best he can in spite of this disappointment, William finds an elementary physics textbook in a local library and sees diagrams of windmills - he cannot even read the English text. From this bit of information, with impressive focus and persistence he manages to build his own version from scraps of wire, an old bicycle hub, and flattened PVC pipe for blades. He has zero resources - not even a soldering iron, which would be useless in any case since there is no electricity in his household. But he is a natural engineer, and even with no guidance or help, he succeeds in making an operating windmill which powers a few lightbulbs for home and village, charges cell phones, operates a water pump - all of which make a real difference in village life.

The third part of the book, just as remarkable as his technological triumph, is about William's discovery by the outside world. The hero of the discovery phase is really the Internet. William's windmill comes to the attention of an engineer working in the capital city, who blogs about it, inspiring others to take a four hour bus journey to find William, who then quickly comes to the attention of international entrepreneurs and technologists. His life quickly expands - amazingly, straight from his village he is invited to speak at an African conference organized by TED, the California organization which publicizes emerging ideas about technology and design. Taken under wing by US sponsors, he travels internationally and finds scholarships for his own education as well as funding for his village technology. He now has a website of course (just Google his name), a PayPal donation account, and a promotional video here on Amazon - more international attention within a short time than the coolest MIT Media Lab guru!

There are a few technical errors in the text - malaria is not a virus for example, and the core of a transformer is a ferromagnet, not a conductor. These are minor points; William is an appealing character and the story is inspiring. But there must be millions of Williams across the developing world. What the book really shows is that the best international assistance is in response to local energy rather than top-down through an ineffective government. The tools to find those kids and offer that help are now at hand. Whereas electric windmills are not new - everything William did has been known for a hundred years - instant cheap global communication is a revolutionary innovation which can help bring the best minds of Africa and many other places into the world community.

After barely surviving a famine in Malawi (sub-Saharan Africa), 14-year-old William Kamkwamba was determined to find a way to make life better for himself and his family. What if he could somehow bring electricity to his village, to pump water for crops in times of drought? Using diagrams in an old forgotten science book called "Using Energy" that he found in a grade school library, he cobbled together a contraption out of scraps and junk that worked to power a few light bulbs -- and changed the life of his village forever. His neighbors, steeped in superstition and with little or no knowledge of science, thought him crazy. But he had a gift for mechanical things, he understood the principles, and he knew he could do it. And he did. Eventually he got a second windmill going, powering a water pump from a deep well, which is now used by all the women in the village. Today every house there has a solar panel and a battery to store electricity, too.

But this is much more than a story about an African boy who built a working windmill. It's a monument to the human spirit. In fact, we don't even get to making the windmill itself until halfway through the book. In the first half, William tells us a lot about his life in Africa, the terrible famine that swept his land, how he and his family survived, and the clues along the way which eventually led to him making the windmill. Even as a little kid, he was taking apart radios to see how they worked -- with no books or training, just trial and error. Then he saw a bicycle light that ran from a mechanical dynamo -- the kind that generates electricity when you pedal. Experimenting with this, he figured out how to get it to power his radio when he turned the bike pedals. When he finally found a picture of a windmill in the "Using Energy" book, it all came together. "In my mind I saw the dynamo," he explains, "saw myself with my neighbor's bicycle those many nights ago, spinning the pedals so I could listen to the radio... The wind would spin the blades of the windmill, rotating the magnets in the dynamo, and then creating current. Attach a wire to the dynamo and you could power anything..." Sounds simple? In principle, yes -- but there is no local Radio Shack in a Malawi village for William to go get the parts. He must make do with what he can scrounge -- and that's the really amazing part of this story.

Step by step, Willam explains what he needed for the windmill, how he adapted things he found in the junkyard, or took odd jobs to get money to buy what he could not make. Some simple tasks took three or four hours because he did not have the right tools and had to improvise. But he kept at it. All in all, he probably put a hundred or more hours into this project. Talk about determination! As I read the story, I could not help thinking how wasteful we are here in America. Over and over, I was astonished at William's creativity in finding uses for things I would have considered useless junk. That gave me serious pause for thought.

One more point: I finished this book the same week as President Obama's "stay in school" pep talk to students in America (Sept 8, 2009). Here in a land where every child can get a free education, we have a 30% dropout rate, even higher in some places. In Malawi where William is growing up, school is only for those who can afford to pay tuition, and he is desperate to study. Because of the famine, his family had lost everything and could no longer afford to send him to school, so he was forced to drop out. Yet he wanted to go so badly, he was sneaking INTO class. Eventually he does get a scholarship, thanks to the publicity generated by his windmill project. Had it not been for that, his genius might have gone to waste, and who knows what future inventions the world would miss? Perhaps this book should be required reading in American schools, so kids here will know just how lucky they are to have such good educational opportunities. I give William's book ten stars!

I didn't really know what to expect when I purchased this book for my Kindle, although I will admit that I noticed the high marks (5 stars) from the other reviewers. So I decided to give it a try and see what the hype was about.

For the first 10% of the book (Kindle doesn't have page numbers) I really was regretting the purchase. The pages were filled with stories of William (main character) as a young boy and the various predicaments he found himself in. The stories told of magic and witchcraft that caused all kinds of terrible things to happen and the overall direction of the book seemed to bounce back and forth from story or idea to another story or idea. I found myself thinking that these stories were so farfetched, how is the remainder of the book going to integrate these magical tales. At that point, I wasn't looking forward to reading more of the book. Nevertheless I persevered and was happily rewarded.

As William grows older (relatively speaking), the story - rather than witchcraft and magic - turns to real life events (famine and hardship) which actually brings you closer to William and his family. Not that many of us can relate to devastating famine where it wipes out entire populations, but it does help us understand what William had to deal with during such a trying time. Some touching moments are created in these pages and definitely rewards for turning the pages.

Once William begins his journey of harnessing the wind, for me, this was the most interesting part of the book. It truly was fascinating to me to not only learn how some of the things we take for granted (like electricity) can play such an integral role in communities that are essentially third world countries but also how one would go about constructing things with no money. The inspiration and true reward which William finally receives for his hard work does make you want to stand up and feel proud - it's definitely a feel good moment to say the least.

It was funny, as I was reading the first 10% of the book, I was going to give this review one star. Then as I continued to read on, I planned on raising it to two stars and when I finished, it was three stars. And while I agree that it could be given a true five star rating, portions of the book just seemed so distracting to me that it actually took away from the reading. Again, this is a truly inspirational story and that alone is a five star rating but fold in much of the remaining passages and it loses some of it's luster - hence the three stars.

Overall though, should you decide to pick up a copy, just know that if you're bored in the first pages, it will get better.

You can't help but be moved by the tale of William Kamkwamba, a poor young Malawian boy who was forced to drop out of high school for lack of school fees. Rather than waste his life, he decided to educate himself via a small library at his former primary school. He sees the cover of a 5th grade textbook from the United States which depicts a windmill, and decides to build one to power his family's home, despite no knowledge of exactly how to do so and no money for parts. Whether he succeeds and what happens after I won't spoil here.

Set against the backdrop of the country's worst famine in 50 years where people were literally starving to death, this story is also the journey of a boy who believes in magic as he becomes a young man of science. Co-written with journalist Bryan Mealer, the book reads like a novel. You'll find it lyrical, poignant and in parts, heartbreaking, but ultimately uplifting, hopeful and life-affirming. Perfect for anyone who enjoys thrilling and inspiring true-life tales. Besides general readers, I recommend "The Boy" for bookclubs, gifts, do-it-yourself enthusiasts (Makers!) and for middle school, high school and college readers.

If you loved Greg Mortensen's "Three Cups of Tea," you'll love "The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind."

This is the autobiography of William Kamkwamba, who grew up in rural Malawi, Africa, in poverty and famines, and who would eventually build a windmill to provide electricity for his family. I found this firsthand account of life in a third-world country fascinating, especially his account of living through a famine. And, this is really what the bulk of the book is about. He's over halfway through the book before his windmill even enters the picture, though you can see his fascination in similar things earlier on.

I would have appreciated this book even if it had a more standard ending, because the depiction of his life is enthralling, vivid, and hard to put down. The descriptions of famine, and shortages, and riots, and the desperation that starving people are driven to is riveting. But, his character is also fascinating in his desire to dream and to obtain a better future for his family. The building of his windmill is inspirational, persevering in the face of ridicule and making do with junkyard parts. I very much became interested in William and desired to see his success by the end of the story.

For those who are mechanically inclined, the details of how William improvised his windmill and other inventions will probably be fascinating. I am not so inclined, and cannot visualize things like that without a diagram, with was not included in the advance reader's edition, but I understand will be in the final version. So I just skimmed through some portions. But, these are only small portions of the book.

I would have enjoyed seeing a bit more shared about his family's faith. His parents are Presbyterians, and his father isn't caught up in the fear of magic and curses, unlike many around them. "Respect the wizards, my son, but always remember, with God on your side, they have no power." There's the passing reference to Canaan or Noah or some such thing that lets you know William is knowledgeable of at least some portions of the Bible, but I really think a good portion of his hope and reaching to the future was because of his religious background (superstition does cause some opposition against his windmill).

Overall, I would probably rate this book 5 stars, assuming the mechanical diagrams in the final edition are good, but even if not, I'd rate it a 4.5. This is a wonderful description of life in a poor African country, and a wonderful story of a boy striving for a future for his family. As he's currently in his early 20s, it will be interesting to see what he does in the future, and hopefully, he will be a further blessing to his countrymen. I will definitely read this book again in the future, and quite probably aloud to my children (currently 8 and under) a few years down the road. I highly recommend it.

An incredible memoir about a young boy who becomes fascinated with the way things work. "How does this radio work?" ... "But HOW does it work?" From humble beginnings, William begins to figure out how to fix things, then create things, in turn creating a better life for himself and family and those around him.

It doesn't read quite like the other memoirs I've read recently. It reads like a novel, you forget that these are events that actually happened. This kid lived through this and accomplished feats that many of us in the modern, developed world can only fathom. It would be unfair to cite too many examples but from his early questions comes his first experiments with figuring out how radios work. Using cheap batteries and found wire, he figures out the difference between AC and DC, why FM and AM are different, different sources of power... of course all this leads to creating MORE power.

All in all, a really great book. William Morrow (publisher) has been putting out a lot of great memoirs lately. Good job on their part for finding all of these gems! I hope they keep it up.

Caution: Some spoilers below.

This is the most awe inspiring book I have read in years. William Kamkwamba is a tribute to human inventiveness and persistence.

William grows up in a society in Africa that believes that witchcraft can cause children to steal people's heads and play soccer with them during the night (without the headless person even noticing). All around him people are quite literally starving to death, eating corn husks and sawdust in an attempt to stay alive during a famine.

He does not attend school because his parents can not afford the tuition (you and I spend more on a pair of shoes). In spite of all this he gets a hold of some science textbooks, written in English, and teaches himself the basics of electricity and magnetism. He scavenges junk yards and begins to build a windmill.

Almost everyone thinks he is slightly crazy, even his own family. Until he gets the windmill working and powers up some small lights for his home. Then they are lining up to charge up their cell phones from his "electric wind". (one does wonder why they have cell phones in such a poor country)

The book reads well, his voice comes through the prose and at the end you have some understanding of how he accomplished this astounding feat.

This book humbled me, made me cry and also laugh out loud. Highly recommended.

This autobiography of William Kamkwamba from Malawi, Africa tells about his journey from having little schooling and no resources to being able to build a windmill that generated electricity for his family, and eventually was able to power a water well for his village, improving their quality of life, and perhaps even saving lives. He details his father's conversion from a drinker and a fighter with quite a reputation, to becoming a Christian, and then setting a good example for his son. Along the way, we learn a little about the political and economic history of his country, and the basic problems that have led to frequent famines and food shortages. His determination to figure out how to build something that would generate electricity is fascinating. Hours and hours reading a few books from a library about electricity, tinkering around with transistor radios, eventually creating a little businees of repairing them, banging on junkyard parts for days to liberate a needed part, and ingenious makeshift tools makes this a fascinating and inspiring journey. Imagine using a nail driven through a corncob as a drill; and stamping a knife out of sheet metal and sharpening it by hand are a few samples of his resourcefulness.

I couldn't put this book down, it was so captivating. There are some heart-rending passages about the effects of famine; no longer is lack of food in Africa an abstract concept to me. Living for weeks, on one meal a day, consisting of a few mouth-fuls of cooked corn, and working in the fields for the next harvest, are detailed so well you can feel the strain. I would recommend this as a good book for mature teens to help them realize what can be accomplished when you have so little. There is some mention of superstitions and witch doctor magic, and some descriptions of violence, of people fighting to get food and seed from the government and others.

I was actually thinking this book was going to be about the technical challenges that the character (who is also the author) had when attempting to build a windmill to harness power for his village. My initial take was wrong - this book is so much better.

This book is The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl, mixed with The Invention of Air: A Story Of Science, Faith, Revolution, And The Birth Of America, but with its own twist... a struggling country that hasn't known anything else in modern history (rather than Depression/Dust bowl America) is "introduced" to a person who is unwilling to let things play out as others have.

Can't pay for school? Then become a lazy drunk or a farmer. William Kamkwamba proves that those are not the only two options for those struggling with 3rd world poverty and a corrupt government. It's not so much that he is willing to build the windmill (or do self-study, or experiment on his own), because, given time, parts, and lack of distractions (TV/Video games/etc), I think many intelligent individuals would attempt similar feats. The powerful message here is - it can be done, and it was done. Despite challenges, being called crazy, living in poverty, and his own turmoil of almost starving, there was no giving up.

A very good book - would recommend to anyone. While it doesn't deter at all from the value of book, for my own interest, I wish there would have been a few pictures of his windmill...it would have visually driven home the fact of technical improvising.

As a scholar working in African Studies I always approach popular writing on Africa with a degree of skepticism, given the narrow range of tropes and stereotypes that one usually finds (see Binyavanga Wainaina's brilliant satire, "How to Write About Africa"). Fortunately this book runs against most of the common (mis)representations of rural Africa. From the start Kamkwamba is writing of a world shaped by colonialism, cash cropping, and the brutal pro-market policies of the World Bank and IMF. He vividly brings to life the risks of rainfed agriculture and the realities of hunger and HIV without falling into a depiction of Africa as victim, instead focusing on the myriad strategies (including his own) that people use to survive the uncertainties of climate and neoliberalism.

Overall the book is a delight to read, grounded in anecdotes of everyday life in rural Malawi, and evoking for me many memories of travelling and living in east and southern Africa. Some readers may find it a bit too free of descriptions of landscape and setting - I was constantly conjuring images from my own memory of the kind of small trading town where William seems to live.

The last part of the book is probably the least satisfying -- after the dramatic stories of impoverished people on the edge of survival, the account of various wealthy Western sponsors who pop in and out of rural Africa was not so interesting. I was also frustrated that the nature of the relationship between author and co-author had been clarified -- the text makes no mention of the process of authorship.

Despite these minor complaints, I really enjoyed the book, from the tales of witchcraft to the recaps of basic electrical engineering. It's certainly suited for high school level courses, and maybe first-year college courses. I could also see using some chapters as supplementary readings on famine and food security. Readers should also check out the afrigadget blog which has dozens of examples of African "makers" as well as reprints of some of the Malawian newspaper coverage of William's windmill.