Dimensions
209 x 239 x 21mm
THE SPIRIT OF INVENTION is the tale of America's history of innovation‚ told in an engaging narrative style by a fascinating historian and storyteller. Supported by a vast collection of archival material--photographs‚ newspaper clippings‚ and illustrations--Fenster captures a group most average Americans know nothing about--the oddballs‚ dreamers‚ and thinkers that found the need for a product‚ be it practical or fanciful‚ and saw it through to its creation.
In this book‚ which is structured thematically‚ we meet Gertrude Forbes‚ a sickly widow so poor she had to live in her aunt's attic‚ who overcame the odds to invent‚ among other things‚ an adjustable ironing board cover. Cromwell Dixon‚ a 16 year old from Columbus‚ Ohio‚ dreamed of finding a way to fly‚ so he invented his very own Sky Bicycle. We meet Philo Farnsworth‚ the consummate inventor who created the first electronic television. We learn about Purdue University‚ one of the country's earliest institutions to promote invention and engineering ideas. We eavesdrop on Thomas Edison in his laboratory in Menlo Park‚ NJ. We learn about the beginnings of film colorization‚ an electronic process that adds tint to film. And we read about Luther Burbank and how he revolutionized plant breeding. The book even reviews invention of illegal cheating devices such as "the light wand"‚ which induced slot machines to pay out on every spin‚ and we meet a poker player who invented a "hold-out" that allowed him to conceal cards with a shirt sleeve during games.
In Fenster's own words‚ "The 'need of the age' is the ultimate arbiter of most inventions; to break through with an idea that is in actuality ahead of its time requires more than just the brilliance of invention." This is the inside story of the true innovators of our time.
