James Watt

by Andrew Carnegie

This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.

Genres: Nonfiction, Biography, Science, History, Business

166 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1913

About the author

Scottish-born American philanthropist Andrew Carnegie amassed a fortune in the steel industry and donated millions of dollars for the benefit of the public.

He led the enormous expansion in the late 19th century. He built a leadership role for the British Empire. During the last 18 years of his life, he gave away $350 million (in 2011, $225 billion), almost nine-tenths, to charities, foundations, and universities. His article, proclaiming "The Gospel of Wealth," in 1889 called on the rich to use their wealth to improve society, and it stimulated a wave.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_...

Reviews

[Derek Lidow · Rating 5 out of 5]

It would be impossible to write a history of entrepreneurship that didn’t explore the life of US Steel Founder Andrew Carnegie or steam engine inventor James Watt. You can imagine my delight when I uncovered this now little-known book. When a publisher first asked Carnegie to write a biography on the inventor of the machine that powered much of the industrial revolution, he initially refused. Lucky for us, he changed his mind. Carnegie’s biography uses the inventor’s life to serve as the basis for a guidebook for anyone trying to create something that didn’t exist before.

While I'm absolutely a fan of academic books on entrepreneurship, there's no substitute for reading the analysis by one great entrepreneur by another. Right now, this isn't the easiest book to get your hands on. Fingers crossed that someone will reissue it for a brand new audience.

If you'd like to get my list of recommendations of the best books on entrepreneurship, email me here with RECOMMENDATIONS in the subject line.

[Kenneth Bernoska · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating biography elucidated by a man in equal turns genial, horrible.

[Thom Swennes · Rating 3 out of 5]

James Watt by Andrew Carnegie was a very good book about a very interesting man. If someone would have asked me about James Watt I would have said that he developed the steam engine and had something to do with lighting (as his name is one almost every traditional light bulb). This, somewhat sketchy information, doesn’t do justice to the man or his inventions. Many great men of his time saw in him a greatness he couldn’t see. Whereas Benjamin Franklin, Joseph Priestly, William Watson and John Roebuck discovered and or invented things that would eventually change the world, James Watt alone gave the greatest contribution to the industrial revolution that was soon to change the world. Carnegie paints Watt as a man that embraced everything he faced. He was the Da Vinci or Mozart of engineering. I highly recommend this book to anyone that is interested in history or a story of a really great man.

[Trudy Pomerantz · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was browsing through the Librivox library and saw this book. I knew little of James Watt apart from the fact that he had invented the steam engine and did not realize that Andrew Carnegie had written books so thought it would be worth my time listening to this book. It certainly was and has inspired me to read/listen to more biographies about those who have made major contributions to the development of science as James Watt did.

[Fr. Kyle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Listened to it via Librivox. The fact that Carnegie was writing was fascinating enough. He added his own commentary on things typical of a biography from that time period. He painted a fantastic picture of James Watt though. I didn't know anything about him previous. The Librivox reader was not very good though. He spoke in monotone and mispronounced many words hence the lower rating.