The author details how he ignored naysayers and was able to bring electricity and running water to his Malawian village when he built a makeshift windmill out of scrap metal and spare parts.
Thirteen-year-old Robert "Qwerty" Stevens uses the time machine he finds in his back yard to visit Thomas Edison's workshop in 1879, and there helps develop the electric light bulb, but then needs his sister's help to return to his own time.
While twins Ella and Herbie help the handyman Mr. Midal work on their new home, he tells them about such inventors as Granville Woods, Dr. Henry T. Sampson, and James West, giving them a new view of their heritage as African-Americans.
In the summer of 1851, with encouragement and ideas provided by his family, an inventor builds a working submarine and takes his family for a ride. Includes notes about Lodner Phillips, the real inventor on whom the story is based.
Contains twenty-two essays that discuss the causes, spread, and impact of the Industrial Revolution, the innovators behind the movement, and the role of laborers and robber barons.
Offers a brief overview of the life of engineer Robert Fulton, discussing his childhood, schooling, creative ideas, historic designs, and other related topics.
A biography of Thomas Alva Edison, the American inventor responsible for introducing the phonograph, incandescent lightbulb, and other important creations to the world.
