Synopses & Reviews
Having completed her transition from a manufacturing economy, America – it is said – has stopped making things. When there are breakthroughs in engineering and design, it’s usually thanks to a team of corporate researchers trying to squeeze out more profit. But once upon a time, the United States was a nation of tinkerers. Amateurs and professionals alike applied their ingenuity and talent to the problems of their day, coming up with innovative solutions that at once channeled the optimistic spirit of America and kept that spirit alive. Guided by the curiosity of an inquiring mind, a desire to know how things work, and a belief that anything can be improved, they laid the foundations for the American century.
When Alexander Graham Bell beat Thomas Edison to the invention of the telephone, Edison fiddled around with the transmitter and receiver until he produced an equally revolutionary machine – the phonograph. When Thomas MacDonald observed the hardship that a lack of good roads imposed on his fellow Iowans, he began a road-building project that eventually morphed into the interstate highway system. Some of the people profiled in this book attended the finest engineering schools in the world; some, like Microsoft’s former chief technology officer Nathan Myhrvold, had no formal training in their chosen fields. Some see themselves as solo visionaries; others emphasize the importance of working in teams. What binds them together is an ability to imagine new systems and subvert old ones, to see fresh potential in existing technologies, and to apply technical know-how to the problems of their day.
In The Tinkerers, Alec Foege presents a version of American history told through feats of engineering, large and small. He argues that reports of tinkering’s death have been greatly exaggerated; since World War II, it has been the guiding force behind projects from corporate-sponsored innovations (the personal computer, Ethernet) to smaller scale inventions with great potential (a machine that can make low-cost eyeglass lenses for people in impoverished countries, a device that uses lasers to shoot malarial mosquitoes out of the sky). Think tanks and companies have recognized the benefits of tinkering and have done their best to harness and institutionalize it. But as systems become more complex, budding inventors may become intimidated. Foege argues that this would be an enormous loss to a nation that achieved its strength largely thanks to the accomplishments of its innovators. He shows us how tinkering remains, in new and unexpected forms, at the heart of American society and culture.
Review
Making and hacking is being completely obsessed with a puzzle that shares its solution with everyone once it's solved.
The Tinkerers explains that "Making" isn't something you just "do," it's a mindset. You look at the same world as everyone else, filled with the same things, things that are assumed to do just one thing or what we're told they should dobut you constantly ask yourself what else can I
make this thing do?”
-Limor "Ladyada" Fried, Founder and Engineer, Adafruit Industries
Review
Anyone who is interested in innovation in the U.S. today and the challenges to continued success in innovation will find [
The Tinkerers] a worthwhile read.”
Chemical and Engineering News
[The Tinkerers] provides a fine and lively discourse on the art and finer science of tinkering.”
Midwest Book Review
[Foege hopes] to inspire people to incorporate more of the tinkering mindset into their everyday livesand the lives of their children.”
American Scientist
The Tinkerers is both tribute and rallying cry.... [The Tinkerers] is an intriguing look at Americas clashing cultures of individualism, capitalism, and creativity, one that poses valuable questions.”
San Francisco/Sacramento Book Review
An easily read, entertaining and enlightening book about the prototypical American tinkerers whose curiosity and creativity have brightened all of our lives.”
Post and Courier
Alec Foege explores the United States tinkering heritage and then follows this perpetually cutting-edge endeavor to present-day America showing the value of an age-old means of bringing new ideas to the marketplace.”
Roanoke Times
[A]n entertaining, easy-to-understand, engaging tale.... You cant help being fascinated by some of the details [Foege] uncovers.... The Tinkerers grabs your attention from page one, and doesnt let go until the end.”
USA Today
[Foege] shows us how tinkering remains, in new and unexpected forms, at the heart of American society and culture.”
Boing Boing
The Tinkerers by Alec Foege is a highly worthwhile read on the extraordinary history, impact and revival of the American tinkerer spirit.”
Book Kvetch
An enthusiasts book about enthusiasts.... [A] kaleidoscopic view of the myriad forms innovation can take. Alec Foeges book is a useful contribution to understanding our era.”
Nature
Foege still believes in tinkering, and so should we.”
Fortune.com
At a time when domestic manufacturing is in decline and the national mood is somewhat grim, Foege makes a case that a return to tinkering might show us the way forward.”
New Yorker, Page-Turner blog
An easily enjoyable read.”
Goodreads.com
Thought-provoking”
Publishers Weekly
A celebratory exploration of American tinkerers and the spirit of innovation that moves them....[a] lucid meditation on innovation.... [Foege] effectively argues that real tinkerers need their own space and the freedom to fail.... Tinkering remains a force to be reckoned with in the 21st century.... Laudatory history mixed with a provocative treatise on creating neat new things.”
Kirkus Reviews
Once you acquire the tinkerers mindset, as described in Alec Foeges engrossing book, the world becomes a gigantic spare parts bin, inviting you to become a creative participant, rather than a passive consumer, in your manufactured environment.”
Mark Frauenfelder, Editor-in-Chief, MAKE
Tired of all the over-hyped, same-sounding books on innovation? Heres a smart, fresh, fascinating take on why tinkering is such a deep part of American enterpriseand how it is fundamental to shaping our economic future.”
Alan M. Webber, co-founder, Fast Company magazine
For anyone who likes to question, pull things apart, and put them back together, this book is for you!”
Tiffany Shlain, Filmmaker and Founder of the Webby Awards
Making and hacking is being completely obsessed with a puzzle that shares its solution with everyone once it's solved. The Tinkerers explains that "Making" isn't something you just "do," it's a mindset. You look at the same world as everyone else, filled with the same things, things that are assumed to do just one thing or what we're told they should dobut you constantly ask yourself what else can I make this thing do?”
-Limor "Ladyada" Fried, Founder and Engineer, Adafruit Industries
Synopsis
Once upon a time, the United States was a nation of tinkerers amateurs and professionals alike who applied their ingenuity and talent to the challenges of their day. Guided by the curiosity of an inquiring mind, a desire to know how things work, and a belief that anything can be improved, they came up with the inventions that laid the foundations for the American century. Today, it seems that that can-do spirit has been overtaken by a general hopelessness around intractable problems. But as Alec Foege shows in The Tinkerers, reports of tinkerings death have been greatly exaggerated.
Just as it always has, America still cultivates visionary innovators who do not allow our cultural obsessions with efficiency and conformity to interfere with their passion and creativity. In this book, youll find out how tinkering has been the guiding force behind both major corporate-sponsored innovations such as the personal computer and Ethernet, and smaller scale inventions with great potential, such as a machine that can make low-cost eyeglass lenses for people in impoverished countries and a device that uses lasers to shoot malarial mosquitoes out of the sky. Some tinkerers attended the finest engineering schools in the world; some had no formal training in their chosen fields. Some see themselves as solo artists; others emphasize the importance of working in teams. What binds them together is an ability to imagine new systems and subvert old ones, to see fresh potential in existing technologies, and to apply technical know-how to the problems of their day.
Think tanks and companies have recognized the benefits of tinkering and have done their best to harness and institutionalize it, but they lack either the resources or the will to truly allow it to flourish. And as anyone who has overpaid for a simple smartphone repair knows, the complexity of modern systems can be needlessly intimidating. But ours is a nation that achieved its strength through the accomplishments of its innovators, and the tinkering tradition remains, in new and unexpected forms, at the heart of American society and culture.
Synopsis
From its earliest years, the United States was a nation of tinkerers: men and women who looked at the world around them and were able to create something genuinely new from what they saw. Guided by their innate curiosity, a desire to know how things work, and a belief that anything can be improved, amateurs and professionals from Benjamin Franklin to Thomas Edison came up with the inventions that laid the foundations for Americas economic dominance. Recently, Americans have come to question whether our tinkering spirit has survived the pressures of ruthless corporate organization and bottom-line driven caution. But as Alec Foege shows in
The Tinkerers, reports of tinkerings death have been greatly exaggerated.
Through the stories of great tinkerers and inventions past and present, Foege documents how Franklin and Edisons modern-day heirs do not allow our cultural obsessions with efficiency and conformity to interfere with their passion and creativity. Tinkering has been the guiding force behind both major corporate-sponsored innovations such as the personal computer and Ethernet, and smaller scale inventions with great potential, such as a machine that can make low-cost eyeglass lenses for people in impoverished countries and a device that uses lasers to shoot malarial mosquitoes out of the sky. Some tinkerers attended the finest engineering schools in the world; some had no formal training in their chosen fields. Some see themselves as solo artists; others emphasize the importance of working in teams. What binds them together is an ability to subvert the old order, to see fresh potential in existing technologies, and to apply technical know-how to the problems of their day.
As anyone who has feared voiding a warranty knows, the complexity of modern systems can be needlessly intimidating. Despite this, tinkerers can and do come from anywhere, whether its the R&D lab of a major corporation, a hobbyists garage, or a summer camp for budding engineers. Through a lively retelling of recent history and captivating interviews with todays most creative innovators, Foege reveals how the tinkering tradition remains, in new and unexpected forms, at the heart of American society and culture.
About the Author
Alec Foege is the author of Right of the Dial: The Rise of Clear Channel and the Fall of Commercial Radio, Confusion Is Next: The Sonic Youth Story, and The Empire God Built: Inside Pat Robertsons Media Machine. A former Rolling Stone contributing editor and People magazine senior writer, Foege lives in Connecticut.