The author follows in the footsteps of America's most essential explorers, thinkers, and innovators to offer a new perspective on how the most powerful nation on Earth came together. Illuminates the men who toiled fearlessly to discover, connect, and bond the citizenry and geography of the U.S.A. from its beginnings and ponders whether the historic work of uniting the States has succeeded, and to what degree.

Inventors are special people. They see everyday objects and imagine something better. They solve problems with new ideas. Their inventions can help people or destroy them, but only the greatest ideas will change the world. This book tells about many of the most interesting and important inventions, from 2,500 years ago to the present day -- p. 4 of cover.

"A smart, lively history of the world economy, seen through the crucial inventions that shaped it. Who thought up paper money? What was the secret element that made the Gutenberg printing press possible? What is the connection between The Da Vinci Code and the collapse of Lehman Brothers? In [this book], author and economist Tim Harford paints an epic yet intimate picture of economic change by telling the stories of the ideas, people, and tools that...

Traces the story of how ancient cultures envisioned artificial life, automata, self-moving devices and human enhancements, sharing insights into how the mythologies of the past related to and shaped ancient machine innovations.