Self Invention

When did we begin to be as self-centered as we are today? At what point did we expect to have the right to determine our own lives? When did we first ask the question, how can I be free? It all began in the 1790s in a quiet university town in Germany when a group of playwrights, poets, and writers put the self at center stage in their thinking, writing, and their lives.

Famously, over a four-year period, James Dyson made 5,127 prototypes of the cyclonic vacuum cleaner that would transform the way houses are cleaned around the world. In devoting all his resources to iteratively developing the technology, he risked it all, but out of many failures and setbacks came hard-fought success. In Invention: A Life, Dyson reveals how he came to set up his own company and led it to become one of the most inventive technology companies in the world. It is a compelling and dramatic tale, with many obstacles overcome.

You don't have to be a mechanical genius to be an inventor. Anyone can invent - a parent wrestling with a baby sling...a coach frustrated with slick-soled running shoes...an office worker determined to keep the computer cords untangled. Inventing is simply finding clever solutions to everyday challenges. Author and inventor Patricia Nolan-Brown has turned common annoyances into ingenious and money-making products.

From the moment early humans first struck two stones together to make a spark, the journey of invention began. It is a journey that has never truly paused. Invention is, at its heart, the story of human progress—the record of how people across ages, cultures, and continents have responded to the challenges of their time with creativity, perseverance, and vision. This book, 100 Inventions, is a curated exploration of some of the most remarkable and influential creations in human history. Some of these inventions are familiar household names—light bulbs, telephones, computers—while ...

As a technology pioneer at MIT and as the leader of three successful start-ups, Kevin Ashton experienced firsthand the all-consuming challenge of creating something new. Now, in a tour-de-force narrative 20 years in the making, Ashton leads us on a journey through humanity's greatest creations to uncover the surprising truth behind who creates and how they do it.

Western exceptionalism - the idea that European civilizations are freer, wealthier, and less violent - is a widespread and powerful political idea. It has been a source of peace and prosperity in some societies, and of ethnic cleansing and havoc in others. Yet in The Invention of Power, Bruce Bueno de Mesquita draws on his expertise in political maneuvering, deal-making, and game theory to present a revolutionary new theory of Western exceptionalism: that a single, rarely discussed event in the 12th century changed the course of European and world history.

In the 1790s an extraordinary group of friends changed the world. Disappointed by the French Revolution's rapid collapse into tyranny, what they wanted was nothing less than a revolution of the mind. The rulers of Europe had ordered their peoples how to think and act for too long. Based in the small German town of Jena, through poetry, drama, philosophy and science, they transformed the way we think about ourselves and the world around us. They were the first Romantics.

Famously, over a four-year period, James Dyson made 5,127 prototypes of the cyclonic vacuum cleaner that would transform the way houses are cleaned around the world. In devoting all his resources to iteratively developing the technology, he risked it all, but out of many failures and setbacks came hard-fought success. His products - including vacuum cleaners, hair dryers and hair stylers, and fans and purifiers - are not only revolutionary technologies, but design classics.

What if you didn’t have to invent something new to build a fortune? What if the biggest secret to success was simply seeing what others missed? Meet The Aha People—visionaries like Walt Disney, Ray Kroc, and Elon Musk—who didn’t create the original ideas, but spotted the aha! moment and turned it into an empire. This witty, wise, and wildly entertaining book shows how everyday people (yes, even you) can do the same. Whether you’re a dreamer with no idea where to start, a frustrated entrepreneur stuck in neutral, or just someone who enjoys fascinating stories about clever people ...

Have you ever had an idea? Could it change the world? Where do you go first? What will be your invention journey? The following are stories of invention written by their inventors because their paths to success just may show you the way. At the very least, they will entertain and inspire.

The great Marcus Tillius Cicero was a well-known statesman during the time of Caesar and a revolutionary orator. In On Invention, Cicero offers his reflections on rhetoric at only 21 years of age. Given his youth at the time, he mainly discarded its value later in life, but the words do already announce a powerful orator in the making.

There is an unnamed feeling that haunts most men. It's a sense that there's more to life than the day-to-day existence we're living now. But the culture of this world ambition and greed and fear teaches us to ignore that feeling. Our culture nudges us toward isolation and insecurity, boredom and fatigue, selfishness and survival. It teaches us to keep our heads down, to follow the system, to man up and power through because that's what we men are supposed to do.

Invention is an invitation to join a band of renegades and revolutionaries, change-makers and troublemakers - men who won't be daunted, because they know there is more. It's a guide for living, finally, with depth and purpose. It will expose the lies that obscure God's intent, and will help reveal his design for your life.

Revised and Updated Second Edition Life is all about Surviving the Lessons and Growing from Them. Shot at, arrested, threatened and endangered - Author Allan J. Wind survived incredible and unexpected dangers as a global humanitarian volunteer and lived to share the powerful lessons he learned on his travels. If you're struggling to find inspiration and motivation because of the challenging events in the world, this book reminds you that there are many remarkable stories of people who do care and whose generosity is changing the world. Service is a calling - and a challenge for us. Words ...

Entering World War II, America was emerging as a world power. Their geographic isolation from World War I allowed them to recover and prosper in the interwar era, and food invention during the Depression carried into World War II. Food items such as SPAM and M&Ms profoundly impacted the military, and were later incorporated into some American dishes after the war.