"My Inventions" is a candid and illuminating autobiography of Nikola Tesla, one of the most important technological innovators of the modern industrial age. Famous for the radio, robotics, and wireless energy, Tesla quickly gained international notoriety for his pioneering inventions as much for his eccentric life. Perhaps no one in his day more thoroughly embodied the archetype of the "mad scientist". This firsthand account reveals the fascinating...

When Raven finished her PhD in biology she built a tiny cottage on an isolated plot of land in Montana. Emotionally isolated as much as physically, she viewed the house as a way station, a temporary rest stop while she filled out applications for a real job, taught remotely, and led field classes in nearby Yellowstone National Park. When she realized that a mangy-looking fox was showing up on her property every afternoon at 4:15 p.m, Raven brought...

The classic account of moving from slavery to freedom, by the celebrated African-American educator and university founder. Booker T. Washington believed that every man and woman deserved a chance, regardless of their skin color. This classic work of literature, originally published in 1901, relays the story of a man born into slavery who, once freed, pursued education and racial equality. This new edition of Booker T. Washington's autobiography features...

"The miraculous and triumphant story of a young man who rediscovers not only his childhood life and home...but an identity long-since left behind"--

"The compelling, inspiring, and comically sublime story of one man's coming-of-age, set during the twilight of apartheid and the tumultuous days of freedom that followed"--Amazon.com.

It's no secret that Beethoven went deaf, that Mozart had constant money problems, and that Gilbert and Sullivan wrote musicals. But what were these people-and other famous musicians-really like? What did they eat? What did they wear? How did they spend their time? What were they like as children? What were their phobias, obsessions, and bad habits? And what did their neighbors think of it all? Here are the fascinating and often humorous stories of...

This fascinating and in-depth biography of Neal Cassady looks at the man who achieved immortality as Dean Moriarty, the central character in Jack Kerouac's On the Road. A charismatic, funny, articulate, and formidably intelligent man, Cassady was also a compulsive womanizer who lived life on the edge. His naturalistic, conversational writing style inspired Kerouac, who lifted a number of passages verbatim and uncredited from Cassady's letters for...

"Raye Montague was an ambitious little girl in segregated Little Rock. She grew to be a woman who spent a lifetime educating herself, both inside and outside of the classroom, so that she could become the person and professional she aspired to be. Where some saw roadblocks, Montague only saw hurdles that needed to be overcome. Her mindset helped her become the first person to draft a Naval ship design by computer, using a program she worked late...

Atz Kilcher grew up with a hard father in a hard land: Alaska. Learning to use new tools--honesty, vulnerability, forgiveness, acceptance--Atz reflects on his upbringing years later and learns that healing his spirit and forgiving himself is even harder than physical labor.

The Pilgrim's Progress is a 1678 Christian allegory written by John Bunyan. It is regarded as one of the most significant works of religious English literature, has been translated into more than 200 languages, and has never been out of print. It has also been cited as the first novel written in English. Bunyan began his work while in the Bedfordshire county prison for violations of the Conventicle Act, which prohibited the holding of religious services...