The Most Powerful Idea in the World: A Story of Steam, Industry and Invention

by William Rosen

'The most important invention in the whole of the Industrial Revolution was invention itself.'

Those words are at the heart of this remarkable book - a history of the Industrial Revolution and the steam engine, as well as an account of how inventors first came to own and profit from their ideas and how invention itself springs forth from logic and imagination.

Rocket. It was the fortuitously named train that inaugurated steam locomotion in 1829, jump-starting two centuries of mass transportation. As William Rosen reveals, it was the product of centuries of scientific and industrial discovery. From inventor Heron of Alexandria in AD 60 to James Watt, the physicist whose 'separate condenser' was central to the development of steam power - all those who made possible the long ride towards the Industrial Revolution are brought to life.

But crucial to their contributions are other characters whose concepts allowed their invention to flourish - John Locke and intellectual property; Edward Coke and patents. Along the way, Rosen takes us deep into the human mind, explaining how 'eureka' moments occur - when the brain is most relaxed.

• ISBN10: 1407090917
• ISBN13: 9781407090917
• Publish Date: 10 June 2010 (first published 1 January 2010)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: Vintage Publishing
• Imprint: Vintage Digital
• Format: eBook (EPUB)
• Pages: 400
• Language: English

Reviews

[g2pro]

I rarely write reviews, but I had to write one for this book.
I thought I was going to read a book about the steam engine and the industrial revolution.
Instead this is a book of tangents in which the author talks about everything but the steam engine until the final chapter. Sure, all the inventions are part of the steam engine and the steam engine could not exist without them, but the book is not about the steam engine.
The author spends more time talking about property and invention rights than the stream engine and spends several pages talking about the brains chemistry and what happens in the brain when someone has a “Eureka Moment”, all very fascinating if that is what you want to read about, but it’s not steam engines. If you want a book that meanders all over the place then it’s for you, but don’t expect to read about steam engines and their use in the industrial revolution.