They made America

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Title:

They made America

Author:

Evans, Harold, 1928-2020

ISBN:

9780316277662

Edition:

1st ed.

Publication Information:

New York : Little, Brown, 2004.

Physical Description:

496 p. : ill. (some col.) ; 29 cm.

Contents:

America's genius for innovation -- pt. I. Pathfinders to a new civilization -- The heroes who got America going -- John Fitch : first steamboat -- Robert Fulton : successful steamboat services -- Oliver Evans : high-pressure steam engine -- Henry Miller Shreve : freed the waterways -- The steamboat war : liberating business -- Eli Whitney : the cotton gin to the machine age -- Samuel Slater : dressing America -- Francis Cabot Lowell : the Lowell girls -- Sam Colt : a mass market -- Samuel Finley Breese Morse : the telegraph -- Cyrus McCormick : American big business -- Isaac Merritt Singer : first successful American multinational -- Charles Goodyear : vulcanized rubber -- Albert Augustus Pope : democracy on wheels -- Edwin Drake : drilling for oil -- Levi Strauss : blue jeans -- Elisha Otis : the safety elevator -- Lewis Tappan : credit rating -- Theodore Dehone Judah : transcontinental railway -- The big four : Collis Potter Huntington, Leland Stanford, Charles Crocker, Mark Hopkins -- pt. II. America takes off -- Adventurous men unite a continent -- section I: Inventors -- Thomas Alva Edison : science of innovation -- Leo Hendrik Baekeland : plastic -- Wilbur and Orville Wright : wings -- Garrett Augustus Morgan : gas mask -- Edwin Howard Armstrong : modern radio -- Reginald Aubrey Fessenden, Lee de Forest, Michael Pupin -- section II: Democratizers -- Henry Ford : the people's car -- Ford's loneliest hour : George Selden's patent -- George Eastman : the Kodak -- Sarah Breedlove Walker : self-made American businesswoman -- Amadeo Peter Giannini : the people's banker -- Martha Matilda Harper : retail franchise network -- Raymond "Pappy" Ingram Smith : chance -- Juan Terry Trippe : jet age -- Donald Calvin Burr : the People Express pioneer -- General Georges Doriot : venture capital -- section III: Empire builders -- Ida Rosenthal : Maidenform Bra tycoon -- The blow against the corset : Caresse Crosby -- Samuel Insull : cheap electricity for all -- Philo T. Farnsworth : television -- Walt Disney : entertainment empire -- Jean Nidetch : Weight Watchers clubs -- Thomas Watson : IBM -- Herman Hollerith, John Patterson -- Thomas Watson Jr. : mainframe computers -- Ken Olsen : minicomputers -- Estee Lauder : cosmetics company -- Malcom McLean : containers, luxury travel -- Jim Sherwood -- Edwin Land : Polaroid -- Ruth Handler : Barbie -- pt. III. The digital age -- The electronic elves of Silicon Valley -- Gary Kildall : PC software -- Bill Gates, Steve Jobs -- Herbert Boyer and Robert Swanson : biotech industry -- Ted Turner : CCN, 24-hour electronic news -- Joan Ganz Cooney : Sesame Street -- Raymond Damadian : MRI scanner -- Russell Simmons : marketing maestro of hip-hop -- Pierre Omidyar : eBay -- Larry Page and Sergey Brin : Google -- Ten lessons -- Innovators gallery.

Subject Term:

Inventors -- History.

Inventions -- History.

Added Author:

Buckland, Gail.

Lefer, David.

Holds:

Available:*

Library	Call Number	Status
Searching... R.H. Stafford Library (Woodbury)	Q 609.2273 EVA	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Stillwater Public Library	609.2273 EVA	Searching... Unknown

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Summary

An illustrated history of American innovators -- some well known, some unknown, and all fascinating -- by the author of the bestselling The American Century.

Author Notes

From 1997 to 1999, Harold Evans was Editorial Director and Vice Chairman of U.S. News and World Report, the New York Daily News, and Fast Company. He was President and Publisher of the Random House Trade Group from 1990 to 1997. He lives in New York City.

(Bowker Author Biography)

Reviews (3)

Publisher's Weekly Review

Developed in tandem with a four-part PBS series to air in November, Evans's profusely illustrated and elegantly written book offers the same breadth and scope as his previous bestseller, The American Century. Evans, former president and publisher of Random House, profiles 70 of America's leading inventors, entrepreneurs and innovators, some better known than others. Along with such obvious choices as Henry Ford, Thomas Edison and the Wright brothers, Evans profiles Lewis Tappan (an abolitionist who dreamed up the idea of credit ratings), Gen. Georges Doriot (pioneer of venture capital) and Joan Ganz Cooney, of the Children's Television Workshop. From A.P. Giannini (father of consumer banking) to Ida Rosenthal (the Maidenform Bra tycoon), Evans shows innovation as both a product of and a contributor to the grand apparatus of American society. And his spotlight is on the true American elite: the aristocracy of strategic visionaries, creative risk takers and entrepreneurial adventurers thriving in their natural environment, the free-market democracy of the United States. Evans doesn't neglect the latest generation of innovators, among them Google's Larry Page and Sergey Brin. He concludes with a note of caution, pointing out the nation's recent loss of dominance in the hard sciences. But just as Edison was inspired by popular biographies of innovators before him, so might the next generation of scientific and commercial explorers find guidance in Evans's exciting survey. 500 color illus. (Oct. 12) Forecast: The PBS series and a two-part serial in U.S. News and World Report should add to what will undoubtedly be generous holiday sales for this gift book. (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

Booklist Review

If you wear a bra, listen to a radio, have a bank account, or use any of 67 other technologies or business practices that Evans writes about, know that they were commercialized by innovators, as the author dubs their creators. Biography provides the backbone of Evans' profiles and is well supported by his grasp of the business and social environments operated in by these historical entrepreneurs, who span from steamboat pioneers John Fitch and Robert Fulton to MRI inventor Raymond Damadian, who exemplifies the type Evans extols here. Damadian did not discover nuclear magnetic resonance, but he built and marketed a machine that in some way made life longer or more comfortable for the masses. Ida Rosenthal did it by getting women out of corsets and into her Maidenform bras; Malcolm McLean did it by building SeaLand, the container-shipping company that revolutionized world trade. Eclectic in its range of subjects, this work's wealth of photographs will enhance its popular appeal, as will its incarnation on PBS in November 2004. --Gilbert Taylor Copyright 2004 Booklist

Library Journal Review

In magisterial prose, Evans (The American Century) presents fascinating and energetic portraits of 70 quintessential American innovators. He focuses on innovation (instead of invention), explaining the innovative difference as the ability to turn new ideas into commercial realities that had an enormous impact on society. Those discussed include well-known innovators (e.g., Eli Whitney, Thomas Edison, and Sam Colt), but the bulk of the material covers lesser-known innovators, such as Gary Kildall, the true founder of the PC revolution; Ida Rosenthall, the Maidenform bra tycoon; and Elisha Otis, the founder of Otis Elevators. Evans's brief biographical and social histories (each six to eight oversize pages) cover 200 years of American history. He concentrates on the personal and the technical aspects of these lives to see how one influenced the other while placing these innovators in context with a profusion of contemporary illustrations. The result is a handy, one-volume complement to Pauline Maier and others' massive, two-volume Inventing America. An accompanying four-part PBS series in November 2004 is sure to stimulate further interest. Essential for all public libraries, as well as business and technology history collections in academic libraries.-Dale Farris, Groves, TX (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

John FitchRobert FultonOliver EvansHenry Miller ShreveThe Steamboat WarEli WhitneySamuel SlaterFrancis Cabot LowellSam ColtSamuel Finley Breese MorseCyrus MccormickIsaac Merritt SingerCharles GoodyearEdwin DrakeLevi StraussElisha OtisLewis TappanTheodore Dehone JudahThomas Alva EdisonLeo Hendrik BaekelandWilbur and Orville WrightGarrett Augustus MorganEdwin Howard ArmstrongHenry FordFord's Loneliest HourGeorge EastmanSarah Breedlove WalkerAmadeo Peter GianniniMartha Matilda HarperRaymond "Pappy" Ingram SmithJuan Terry TrippeGeneral Georges DoriotIda RosenthalSamuel InsullPhilo T. FarnsworthWalt DisneyJean NidetchThomas WatsonThomas Watson Jr.Estee LauderMalcom McLeanEdwin LandRuth HandlerGary KildallHerbert Boyer and Robert SwansonTed TurnerJoan Ganz CooneyRaymond DamadianRussell SimmonsPierre OmidyarLarry Page and Sergey Brin

America's Genius for Innovation	p. 10
Part I Pathfinders to a New Civilization	p. 16
The Heroes Who Gotamerica going	p. 18
First steamboat	p. 20
Successful steamboat services	p. 26
High-pressure steam engine	p. 36
Freed the waterways	p. 42
Liberating business	p. 46
The cotton gin to the machine age	p. 48
Dressing America	p. 56
The Lowell girls	p. 57
A mass market	p. 58
The telegraph	p. 70
American big business	p. 78
First successful American multinational	p. 84
Vulcanized rubber	p. 92
Albert Augustus Pope: Democracy on Wheels
Drilling for oil	p. 102
Blue jeans	p. 108
The safety elevator	p. 114
Credit rating	p. 118
Transcontinental railway	p. 126
The Big Four: Collis Potter Huntington, Leland Stanford, Charles Crocker, Mark Hopkins
Part II America Takes Off	p. 136
Adventurous Men Unite a Continent	p. 138
Section I Inventors	p. 150
Science of innovation	p. 151
Plastic	p. 172
Wings	p. 180
Gas mask	p. 212
Modern radio	p. 216
Reginald Aubrey Fessenden, Lee de Forest, Michael Pupin
Section II Democratizers	p. 234
The people's car	p. 235
George Selden's patent	p. 248
The Kodak	p. 250
Self-made American businesswoman	p. 254
The people's banker	p. 258
Retail franchise network	p. 276
Chance	p. 278
Jet age	p. 284
Donald Calvin Burr: The People Express Pioneer
Venture capital	p. 302
Section III Empire Builders	p. 308
Maidenform Bra tycoon	p. 309
The Blow Against the Corset: Caresse Crosby
Cheap electricity for all	p. 318
Television	p. 334
Entertainment empire	p. 342
Weight Watchers clubs	p. 354
IBM	p. 356
Herman Hollerith, John Patterson
Mainframe computers	p. 366
Ken Olsen: Minicomputers
Cosmetics company	p. 378
Containers, luxury travel	p. 380
Jim Sherwood
Polaroid	p. 384
Barbie	p. 388
Part III The Digital Age	p. 394
The Electronic Elves of Silicon Valley	p. 396
PC software	p. 402
Bill Gates, Steve Jobs
Biotech industry	p. 420
CNN, 24-hour electronic news	p. 432
Sesame Street	p. 440
MRI scanner	p. 442
Marketing maestro of hip-hop	p. 452
eBay	p. 456
Google	p. 458
Ten Lessons	p. 465
Innovators Gallery	p. 467
Selected Bibliography	p. 473
Index	p. 482
Illustration Credits	p. 494
Biographies	p. 496

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Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

Summary

Author Notes

Reviews (3)

Publisher's Weekly Review

Booklist Review

Library Journal Review

Table of Contents

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