Product Description: The untold story of an enigmatic genius who changed warfare foreverIn the World War II era, Geoffrey Pyke was described as one of the world's great minds—to rank alongside Einstein. Pyke was an inventor, adventurer, polymath, and unlikely hero of both world wars...read more

Sir William Congreve, political propagandist, lawyer, inventor, and Chief Equerry to King George IV, was one of the foremost military salesmen of the early nineteenth century. When England faced the overwhelming might of Napoleonic France, Sir William championed the potential of secret weapons, notably gunpowder rockets, mass-produced by the latest advances in manufacturing science. His was a world of fireships, bomb brigs, invasion fleets, experimental warfare, espionage, and the intense hostility of rival 'projectors'. By turns acclaimed, derided, libelled and sued, Congreve belonged to a colourful breed whose influence on history is frequently overlooked. Yet for those who care to notice, his name and works are widely commemorated from the dark side of the moon to the most resounding phrases of the American National Anthem.

A vivid study of the life and times of seventeenth-century scientist Robert Hooke captures the diverse facets of his life as an astronomer, inventor, anatomist, diarist, and more, examining his contributions in an era in which Hooke's reputation was dramatically overshadowed by those of such contemporaries as Sir Christopher Wren and Sir Isaac Newton. Reprint.

Chronicles the friendships of Matthew Boulton, James, Watt, Josiah Wedgwood, Erasmus Darwin, and Joseph Priestly, whose ideas and experiments launched the Industrial Revolution. Reprint. 15,000 first printing.

Product Description: Looks at the scientists and inventors to be found upon the walls of the National Portrait Gallery, and the often extraordinary connections between them. Relationships familial, intellectual, amicable and implacable are unearthed, as are the roles played by coincidence and accident in the great scientific breakthroughs...read more (view table of contents, read Amazon.com's description)

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Product Description: We oftentimes think that human inventions are an improvement on nature. In fact, many of humankind's most clever inventions have been anticipated by nature. In this book, Professor Laithwaite takes a new look at the natural world from an engineer's point of view...read more (view table of contents, read Amazon.com's description)

Investigates the September 1890 disappearance of French inventor Augustin Le Prince while en route to Washington, D.C., to file a patent for a moving picture camera and projector