Icons of Invention [2 volumes]

Book excerpt: These two volumes provide in-depth coverage of 24 of history's most important inventors and their inventions. Who invented the sewing machine, the telephone, the internal combustion engine? Who pioneered vaccination? Who gave the world television, nylon, the nuclear reactor? The answers to some of these questions are straightforward, the answers to others much less so. All of them are explored in the fascinating Icons of Invention: The Makers of the Modern World from Gutenberg to Gates. This in-depth resource tells the stories of 24 of the most influential and well-known inventions of the modern age—and of the individuals most responsible for their development. Presented in chronological order, the entries provide background on the lives and work of inventors such as Thomas Edison, Alexander Fleming, and Tim Berners-Lee. At the same time, the set profiles their competitors and details the sometimes-controversial, often-mistake-plagued routes almost all of them took to their most famous creations.