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They Made America: From the Steam Engine to the Search Engine: Two Centuries of Innovators | 
 enlarge | Authors: Harold Evans, Gail Buckland, David Lefer
Publisher: Back Bay Books
Category: Book
List Price: $18.95
Buy Used: $4.65
You Save: $14.30 (75%)
New (28) Used (24) from $4.65
Rating:  19 reviews
Sales Rank: 85402
Media: Paperback
Pages: 692
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.9
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 5.9 x 1.3
ISBN: 0316013854
Dewey Decimal Number: 609.2273
EAN: 9780316013857
ASIN: 0316013854
Publication Date: May 9, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Condition: Lots of shelf wear, may contain some notes or highlighting, corners/edges worn and bent, may not include companion materials like cdroms or access codes.
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Product Description
The real inventor of the steam engine. The creator of the bra. The man who invented modern banking. The creator of the computer operating system. These and scores of others are the characters that populate Harold Evans's rollicking, brilliant history of the men and women who made America great. Vast and beautifully designed with hundreds of duotones and photos throughout (many never before published), the book is itself a creation as grand as those it describes. Evans reveals the surprising truths behind many of the creations that made our modern world, as well as the lessons we can learn by studying the great entrepreneurs and innovators of the past two centuries.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 14 more reviews...
 Important person omitted! November 26, 2007
Ronald J. Fischer (San Jose, CA)
0 out of 4 found this review helpful
Harold Evans who wrote They Made America seems to have left out a very important person, Nicola Tesla. I believe he was the inventor of AC electricity, the alternating current. Edison was only interested in DC, and was adamant that direct current was the right way to go. It turned out that he was wrong. DC is very limited. Without AC electricity could not be moved over long distances.
I think I understand the reason why Tesla is omitted from this and other lists of the greats. In his elder years he got a little crazy. He was also considered somewhat of an egotist in general, which he probably was. He challenged Einstein's theory of relativity, and other modern theories, and claimed that you could not produce energy from matter. "Atomic power is an illusion" he frequently declared. He also claimed to have a "dynamic theory of gravity" which was never published.
This is a very poor reason to ignore his genius but I can't think of any other reason for it. At least the unit of magnetic flux density was named after him so some people thought he was great!
Ronald Fischer
3050 Beckley Dr
San Jose, CA 95135
(408)238-6296
 Zey Tavia September 25, 2007
Zey Tavia (Ohio, USA)
This is an excellent book for gaining general information on the lifes and times of America's inventors. Suprisingly, a good deal of information about each subject is tightly packed and woven into each chapter. It is by no means, however, an indepth and intricate look into each innovator. You will need to do more research for that.
Overall, I highly recommend this book for anyone trying to gain some knowledge on a particular person, or about a particular invention. It is a great starter book for history enthusiasts as well.
Excellent Gift for the Entrepreneur, History Buff in your life June 18, 2007
K. Lisson (Albany, NY)
I rented the audiotape version from my local library and was hooked. I gave this book to my father for Christmas. Excellent insight into the influential Americans, and a great dose of our country's history at the same time.
Great coffee table book January 18, 2007
O. Ganel (Philadelphia, PA)
very interesting - everyone will find something inspiring - whether you are an entrepreneur, a manager, an inventor or just looking to be inspired.
Must Read for any Business Person August 6, 2006
Jim Estill
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
This book is a number of short stories about successful business people, everyone from Robert Fulton (Steamboat Services), Isaac Singer (sewing machines), Charles Goodyear (rubber), Levi Strauss through to modern day people like Ted Turner, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, and Pierre Omidyar (eBay). The book is perfect for my personality type - it is a number of short stories so it didn't take long to read. There is a summary on page 465 of the book that gives 10 lessons that can be learned from history's innovators:
1. Make no assumptions.
2. First isn't always best.
3. It is okay to steal. (They don't really mean steal; they mean that more innovations come from borrowing in combination than simple invention. Henry Ford said, "I invented nothing new, I simple assembled into a car the discoveries of other men behind whom were century of work."
4. Diffidence would do it. An idea may only work when pushed to the limits.
5. Nothing works the first time. In an impatient society we expect instant results and quarterly earnings make things worse. It takes a strong person to persist and think long term.
6. New ideas disturb.
7. Cross pollination works. Taking ideas from other industries and applying them to a different industry is often a great way to cross-pollinate.
8. Success is risky. We all know that entrepreneurs take risks and we all know this is all part of the greatness of our system.
9. When one plus one equals three, this talks about innovations flourishing in partnerships provided the psychology is right.
10. Plaguing into networks. Isolated innovators may be successful but most of them are well connected and network well.
Overall I found this book to be highly inspirational and a must read for any business person.
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