Inventing Modern America: From the Microwave to the Mouse [Paperback]

David E. Brown (Author), James Burke (Introduction), Lester Thurow (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 14, 2003

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.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Ole Evinrude, designer of the outboard boat motor; Stephanie Kwolek, creator of Kevlar; and Henry Ford, architect of the moving assembly line are just a few of the American inventors profiled in Inventing Modern America: From the Microwave to the Mouse by freelance writer and editor David E. Brown. Along with contributors Lester C. Thurow and James Burke, Brown simplifies technical data and uses an enthusiastic, almost proselytizing tone: "We can all be inventors, just like the ones in this book. They show us the way." These words may restrict the primary audience for this volume to those under legal voting age, but full color photographs, diagrams and intriguing tidbits like how a "tiny mistake led to the invention of the modern pacemaker" make this a good book for most to browse.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Brown introduces 35 practitioners of American ingenuity in this peppy survey, neatly profiling inventors in the fields of medicine, consumer products, transportation, energy, computing, and telecommunications. Shared traits include a preternatural attention to detail, a gift for following up on "serendipitous flashes," gumption, and the ability to withstand ridicule and ruthless competition, the latter acknowledged in Raymond Damadian's name for the first MRI machine: Indomitable. Another example of the truth Brown reveals--that behind every invention, there's a story of inspiration, hard work, and luck--is found in the profile of Garrett Morgan. The son of former slaves, he confronted racism to bring his inventions to fruition, a prototype for the gas mask and the first traffic signal. Donna Seaman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 221 pages
• Publisher: The MIT Press (March 14, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0262523493
• ISBN-13: 978-0262523493
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 9.1 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #373,643 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Way To Inspire Young Inventors!, February 26, 2003

By 

Mike Ramey (Indianapolis, Indiana) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Inventing Modern America: From the Microwave to the Mouse (Hardcover)

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

5.0 out of 5 stars This should be read by every college student, November 6, 2010

By 

Jeffrey L. Blackwell (Ft Myers, Florida) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Inventing Modern America: From the Microwave to the Mouse (Paperback)

This collection of short narratives provides valuable insights into the process of invention. It is a fitting commemorative to American inventor Jerome Lemelson, one of the 20th century's more prolific inventors. I especially liked the narration on Ashok Gadgil, whose UC-Berkeley team perfected the use of Ultraviolet light for low-cost water disinfection. It also does justice to minority inventors, both women and ethnic minorities.

This should be read by every college student. I feel that every student should be tasked with inventing something, even if a very simple 'invention of convenience' not necessarily an empirical science-based invention (even if most fall short of this ideal).
While a interdisciplinary doctoral student, I made some contributions to the field of 'Science,Technology, & Society,' the academic field that produces books like this. I tried to develop a course for gifted high schoolers or for engineering students around the concept of 'From Theory to Invention to Production.'
The THEORY section required the student to review the names of great physicists commemorated by constants, laws, coefficients found on inside cover of a college physics text -- Newton's Laws, joules, Bernoulli' principle, etc. -- and to track these theoretical contributions as they produced practical applications.
The INVENTION section, for instance, might track Clausius and Carnot to Diesel & Otto.
The last section, PRODUCTION, carried the product development process forward from its inventors' patents to auto entrepreneurs like Ford, or for IC outboard motors, Evinrude, etc. who mass-produced an affordable version for consumers.(Its text was the 'Branding of America' by Hambleton)
I personally got nowhere in 1990s U S academics with this scheme (at the major state university where I was studying). I eventually dropped out and became a long-suffering ABD. I concluded that 21st century America may become a first-rate theocracy, but, if my experience is an indication, its public universities now only preserve the interests of the large donors (multinational corporations).
Inventors beware.
Because I could not find a perfect intro to 20th C. American Invention while developing 'Theory to Invention to Production', I was enthusiastic when Inventing Modern America appeared in 2002. My interest in this book and the history of business, Branding of America, dated from the 1990s. There may be more recent books out there now of interest to young inventors or those who dream of inventing.

3 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best book i ever read!!!!!!!!!!!!!, December 2, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Inventing Modern America: From the Microwave to the Mouse (Hardcover)

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!