light boxes
Segway
Kay, Alan
Keasling, Jay
Kelley, David
Kemble, George
Kemper, Steve
Kennedy, John F.
Kickstarter
Krugman, Paul
Laser mosquito zappers
Laser-equipped computer printer
Lemelson-MIT Student Prize
Lenehan, Terrance F.
Liberals’ position in game theory
Licklider, J. C. R.
Lippincott, Jesse
Lisa computer
Ludwick, Andy
MacDonald, Thomas Harris
Macintosh computer
Madison, James
Makani Power
Make magazine
Maker Faires
Malaria
Manufacturing (United States)
fewer workers needed as sophistication increases
Griffith’s perspective
lack blamed for financial crisis
some jobs return to US
Margin, David
Marston, Anson
Masters, Blythe
Materials science/materials engineering
MAXC computer
McAfee, Andrew P.
McNamara, Robert
Mendocino, California
Methods. See Tinkering processes
Metropolis magazine
Microsoft
Military defense routes
Military-industrial complex
MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
Modernist cuisine (Myhrvold)
Morgan, J. P.
Morgan mafia
MP3 format
Music compression. See Sound compression technology
Myhrvold, Nathan
background as tinkerer
describes Intellectual Ventures
molecular gastronomy
The Mythical Man-Month (Brooks)
NASA MER-A Exploration Rover on Mars
National Public Radio (NPR)
Need identification followed by innovative solutions
Neoconservatism
New England Journal of Medicine
Nokia
North American Review
Nuclear reactor prototype
Oasis Research
Obama, Barack
One Laptop per Child program
Operations research (OR)
Oracle On Demand
Pake, George E.
Patent trolls
Patents
Bell–Western Union dispute
bought/sold by Intellectual Ventures
decline, to US residents
German legal infrastructure
importance of
owned by Kamen
received by Edison
related to phonograph
Patowmack Company/Canal
Paul Blart: Mall Cop movie
Paxson, Ed
PDP-10 computer
The Pebble
Pennsylvania Turnpike
Pershing map
Phonograph and Its Future, North American Review
Phonographs/recording devices
of Bell
Edison fails to commercialize
as entertainment devices
invention of
Physical tinkering vs. virtual tinkering
Pope, Edison & Company
Post Office, creation of
Potomac Canal
Problem solving
of excess credit risk
Griffith’s products for environment
at Intellectual Ventures
intended by invention of CDSs
led by US
through virtual financial tinkering
of Tulley’s Tinkering School
Radio Shack
RAND Corporation
Reason magazine
Reis, Philipp
Research and development
Research labs as innovation centers. See also Corporate labs
Ridley, Matt
Risks
corporations fail to capitalize on innovations
of Kamen’s tinkering approach
minimized by corporate research labs
minimized by financial engineering
of technology vs. economic risks
Roads and highways in the US
Roberts, Dewitt C.
Robotics
Romer, Paul
Roosevelt, Franklin D.
Rovio
Rumsey, James
Schmidt, Robert
Scientific American magazine
Scientific Data Systems (SDS)
SDS. See Scientific Data Systems
Seed accelerator model
Segway Human Transporter
Seidle, Nate
Seitzer, Dieter
Simpsons television program
Skype
Smalltalk
Smartphone tinkering
Software
developers compete
Myhrvold’s scientific programs
Tulley as programmer
Soldiers of Reason (Abella)
Sony PlayStation 3
Sound compression technology
SparkFun Electronics
Spears, Britney
Squid Labs
Standardized testing
Strickler, Yancey
Stross, Randall
Studio Gang Architects
Surface tinkering vs. deeply probing tinkering
Sussman, Jerry
Sydell, Laura
SynOptics
Synthetic biology
Systems analysis as tinkering process
Talking Phonograph, Scientific American magazine
Taylor, Bob
Technological innovations
funded in Germany
as key to improving jobs situation
led by US
surge in late 1800s
See also Innovations
Technology
advances lead to complex tinkering
of farming increases food production
replaces workforces
returns American spirit to tinkering
students’ interest declines in US
TechStars, Boulder, Colorado
TED talks
Telegraph inventions
Telephone-related inventions
Thorp, Edward O.
Tinkerers
characteristics
as engineers
Griffith as futurist
in other countries
as teams in small companies
university professors
See also Collaborative teams of tinkerers
Tinkerers: An Original Tale of the New Future (Brin)
Tinkering
associated with US westward expansion
to create systems, solve problems
deeply probing
defined
manual (see Physical tinkering vs. virtual tinkering)
as state of mind
virtual (see Virtual tinkering)
See also American tinkering
Tinkering processes
build on previous inventions
commercialized
to create systems, solve problems
Edison’s multiple projects, reinvented
of Germans compared to US labs
Kamen’s risk taking
of Kickstarter projects
of PARC group
Rovio’s collaborative style
systems analysis
Tinkering schools
“Tom’s Diner” song (Vega)
“Trolling for Suckers,” Forbes magazine
Tulley, Gever
background
Brightworks
TED conferences
Tinkering School
Tulley,
Julie
Unemployment
Vanderbilt, William Henry
Vega, Suzanne
Venture capitalists
in Australia
Brandenburg Ventures
compared to Intellectual Ventures
compared to seed accelerators
establish Edison firm
rarely support inventors
Video game developer teams
Vietnam War
Virtual tinkering
for money making, as disruptive force
produces CDSs
vs. tinkering producing objects
valuable as hybrid with manual tinkering
Von Neumann, John
Vote tabulator
Wallace, William
Washington, George
Wealth
and 2008 economic collapse
created by tinkering
created through innovations, technology
Welch, Bryan
Western Union
Wheelchairs with gyroscopic sensors
Wilson, Woodrow
Wolfram’s Mathematica program
Worcester Polytechnic Institute
World War II
Wozniak, Steve
Wright, Benjamin
Xerox
Y Combinator
YouTube videos
Zacks, Stephen
Zero-sum game principles
Copyright © 2013 by Alec Foege
Published by Basic Books,
A Member of the Perseus Books Group
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. For information, address Basic Books, 250 West 57th Street, 15th Floor, New York, NY 10107.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Foege, Alec.
The tinkerers : the amateurs, DIYers, and inventors who make America great / Alec Foege.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
eISBN : 978-0-465-03345-4
1. Tinkers—United States. 2. Inventors—United
States. I. Title.
HD8039.T572U64 2013
609.2’273—dc23
2012028740