"When the publishers asked me to write the Life of Watt, I declined, stating that my thoughts were upon other matters. This settled the question, as I supposed, but in this I was mistaken. Why shouldn’t I write the Life of the maker of the steam-engine, out of which I had made a fortune? Besides I knew little of the history of the Steam Engine and of Watt himself, and the surest way to obtain knowledge was to comply with the publisher’s highly complimentary request. In short, the subject would not down, and finally, I was compelled to write again, telling them that the idea haunted me, and if they still desired me to undertake it, I should do so with my heart in the task. "I now know about the steam-engine, and have also had revealed to me one of the finest characters that ever graced the earth. For all this I am deeply grateful to the publishers. "I am indebted to friends, Messrs. Angus Sinclair and Edward R. Cooper, for editing my notes upon Scientific and Mechanical points. "The result is this volume. If the public, in reading, have one tithe of the pleasure I have had in writing it, I shall be amply rewarded."
Andrew Carnegie
The steam engine, steel tycoon Andrew Carnegie notes here, was one of the bases upon which his own fortune was built--so why shouldn't he write a biography of its inventor, James Watt? As Carnegie explores the life and work of "one of the finest characters that ever graced the earth," we learn as much about Carnegie's philosophies of business and personal success as we do about Watt. First published in 1905, this is an unexpected example of Carnegie's spirit of generosity and boundless enthusiasm for science, technology, and the self-made man.
Also available from Cosimo Classics: Carnegie's Triumphant Democracy, An American Four-in-Hand in Britain, Round the World, and Autobiography.