They Made America: From the Steam Engine to the Search Engine: Two Centuries of Innovators

5 Responses to “They Made America: From the Steam Engine to the Search Engine: Two Centuries of Innovators”

1. GatoRat, on November 22nd, 2009 at 9:17 am Said:

   I had a devastating review here some time ago that was apparently deleted by someone. (Apparently, I wasn’t alone. When I put in my review there was one with 4 stars. I fully expect this review to be removed eventually.)

   In short, I enjoyed this book until I started noticing errors and a strange, sometimes nasty, bias. There are also several silly chapters on people who are simply not in the same league as the rest, a few that are extremely slanted and a few that are almost nothing but lies and misinformation.

   It became apparent that the author tends to take sides. In more than one case he accepted the delussional rantings of the subject as fact, dismissing the volume of contradictory evidence. Worse, the author is, at times, very nasty in his dismissal of that contradictory evidence.

   This is a sloppy, poorly written book. The number of egregious errors in several chapters make me doubt the validity of some of the assertions made in the rest of chapters. If you want to be educated, you are much better off finding books specific to the subject.
   Rating: 1 / 5

2. CodeView, on November 22nd, 2009 at 11:30 am Said:

   This book has glaring errors in the chapter regarding Dr. Gary Kildall and CP/M. The author trashes DOS as a “slapdash clone” and a “rip-off” of CP/M, which is simply untrue. Tim Paterson, the author of DOS, is in fact suing the publisher and the author over numerous misrepresentations in the book. Save your money and get a book that is better researched.
   Rating: 1 / 5

3. Ronald J. Fischer, on November 22nd, 2009 at 12:29 pm Said:

   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

   Rating: 1 / 5

4. James Nowak, on November 22nd, 2009 at 1:47 pm Said:

   I just watched Sir Harold Evans pushing his book. He talked extensively about Thomas Edison electrifying america. Edison did not do it and could not do it with his direct current. Nikola Tesla electrified america with alternating current. Evans is full of it.
   Rating: 1 / 5

5. Jim Estill, on November 22nd, 2009 at 3:34 pm Said:

   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.

   Rating: 5 / 5