The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin distills the complex and passionate intellectual strivings of the man whom David Hume called the first philosopher and great man of letters of the New World. Benjamin Franklin was a true renaissance man. A statesman and a diplomat, (he wa the person to sign all four major documents of the founding of America - The Declaration of Indepence, the Constitution, the Treaty of Alliance with France, and the Treary of...

Mattie Knight loved to make things ranging from a foot warmer for her mother or toys for her older brothers. Or, when she was 12, a metal guard to prevent shuttles from shooting off looms and hurting workers. Later, Mattie invented a machine that could cut and glue the square-bottomed paper bags we still use today. Meet the woman known as "the Lady Edison."

Draws on new research to offer insight into the inventor's private life, as well as his passionate drive for new innovations, discussing the influence of his speech therapist father and deaf mother on his work, his tempestuous relationship with his wife, and his avoidance of fame and fortune.

"In this engaging biography, readers will learn about the builder of board games, Milton Bradley. Follow the story from Bradley's childhood, his early entrepreneurial work creating and selling stationery, his drafting education at Harvard, his first business creating and selling lithographs, and how these experiences came together when he formed the Milton Bradley Company and created the Game of Life. Bradley's family, retirement, and work producing...

Chronicles the founding father's life and his multiple careers as a shopkeeper, writer, inventor, media baron, scientist, diplomat, business strategist, and political leader, while showing how his faith in the wisdom of the common citizen helped forge an American national identity based on the virtues of its middle class.

You know the Super Soaker. It's one of top twenty toys of all time. And it was invented entirely by accident. Trying to create a new cooling system for refrigerators and air conditioners, inventor Lonnie Johnson instead created the mechanics for the iconic toy. A love for rockets, robots, inventions, and a mind for creativity began early in Lonnie Johnson's life. Growing up in a house full of brothers and sisters, persistence and a passion for problem...

Nikola Tesla (1856-1943), credited as the inspiration for radio, robots, and even radar, has been called the patron saint of modern electricity. Based on original material and previously unavailable documents, this acclaimed book is the definitive biography of the man considered by many to be the founding father of modern electrical technology. Among Tesla's creations were the channeling of alternating current, fluorescent and neon lighting, wireless...

From his humble boyhood as a farmer's son, selling newspapers on trains, reading through public libraries shelf by shelf, and dreaming of new inventions, Thomas Edison went on to create the light bulb, the phonograph, and the motion picture camera.

Highlights the life and accomplishments of the co-founder and long-time CEO of Apple Computers and former CEO of Pixar.

Surveys the life and accomplishments of American inventor and mechanic Eli Whitney, who is best known for building the cotton gin, a machine to separate cotton fiber from its sticky seeds.