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The Man Behind the Gun
Until the late nineteenth century, guns took a long time to load and could only make one shot at a time, but Samuel Colt invented a hand gun that held six bullets and could be fired without reloading every time. This changed weaponry forever.
* Reviews *
Genius at Work! Great Inventor Biographies series provides excellent starting points for more esoteric research. By taking high-interest topics in a biographical direction, Wyckoff ably combines triumph-over-adversity stories with lots of science and a dollop of historyrare is the volume that doesn't take its subject through a world war or the Great Depression. The Cornflake King details how young Will Kellogg went from broom salesmen to accountant for his health-nut brother to accidental inventor of a delicious breakfast treat. "Not enough people know his name," writes Wyckoff of Ralph Baer in The Guy Who Invented Home Video Games, and hes rightafter fleeing Hitler's Germany, the radio repairman went on to invent a clunky pet project that became a $28 billion industry. Technical sketches of his ideas are especially fascinating. Helicopter Man traces Russian Igor Sikorsky and his single-minded obsession with building an upward-rising airplane. And while The Man behind the Gun doesn't appropriately emphasize the centuries of slaughter wrought by Samuel Colts revolver, its plenty interesting to see young Colt as one of those kids who just likes to blow stuff up. Historical shots enliven an otherwise drab layout, and back matter, with a time line and further reading, is great., Booklist March 1, 2011
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