America’s Entrepreneurs: A History of Ideas

The life stories of entrepreneurs and innovators are the lifeblood of America. Sir Harold Evans tells these stories in They Made America, the bestselling book that inspired the PBS series of the same name.

“Most innovations take us by surprise because they come out of left field,” Evans said. “We have to be receptive and we have to keep our attitude to innovators one of warmth and appreciation.”

Evans spent five years researching and writing his illustrated history with the assistance of photographic historian Gail Buckland and journalist David Lefer. The book presents two centuries of innovators, from the steam engine to the search engine. It tells the stories of seventy American innovators — some well known, some unknown — who made America great. Evans reveals the surprising truths behind many of the creations that made our modern world, as well as the lessons we can learn by studying the great entrepreneurs and innovators of the past two centuries.

“I think there’s a very, very important distinction to be made between invention and innovation. The history of enterprise isn’t really about eureka moments. It’s mainly about people putting things together that were never put together before,” Evans said.

Full Story: http://www.kauffman.org/items.cfm/613

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Many thanks to Geniphyr Ponce-Pore for passing this along.
Russ