From the author of Steve Jobs and other bestselling biographies, this is the astonishingly intimate story of Elon Musk, the most fascinating and controversial innovator of our era—a rule-breaking visionary who helped to lead the world into the era of electric vehicles, private space exploration, and artificial intelligence. Oh, and took over Twitter.

When Elon Musk was a kid in South Africa, he was regularly beaten by bullies. One day a group pushed him down some concrete steps and kicked him until his face was a swollen ball of flesh. He was in the hospital for a week. But the physical scars were minor compared to the emotional ones inflicted by his father, an engineer, rogue, and charismatic fantasist. His father’s impact on his psyche would linger. He developed into a tough yet vulnerable man-child, prone to abrupt Jekyll-and-Hyde mood swings, with an exceedingly high tolerance for risk, a craving for drama, an epic sense of mission, and a maniacal intensity that was callous and at times destructive.

At the beginning of 2022—after a year marked by SpaceX launching thirty-one rockets into orbit, Tesla selling a million cars, and him becoming the richest man on earth—Musk spoke ruefully about his compulsion to stir up dramas. “I need to shift my mindset away from being in crisis mode, which it has been for about fourteen years now, or arguably most of my life,” he said. It was a wistful comment, not a New Year’s resolution. Even as he said it, he was secretly buying up shares of Twitter, the world’s ultimate playground. Over the years, whenever he was in a dark place, his mind went back to being bullied on the playground. Now he had the chance to own the playground.

For two years, Isaacson shadowed Musk, attended his meetings, walked his factories with him, and spent hours interviewing him, his family, friends, coworkers, and adversaries. The result is the revealing inside story, filled with amazing tales of triumphs and turmoil, that addresses the question: are the demons that drive Musk also what it takes to drive innovation and progress?

Walter Isaacson’s biography of Elon Musk offers the most intimate, complete and revelatory portrait of the most fascinating and controversial innovator in the world.
 
For two years, Isaacson had unprecedented access to Musk, his workplaces, his family, friends, coworkers and adversaries – nothing was off-limits.

Musk’s journey from humble beginnings to one of the wealthiest people on the planet is a thrilling, mind-bending story and nobody could tell it better. Filled with amazing tales of triumph and turmoil, and lessons about leadership and business, it ultimately addresses the question everyone wants to ask: why is Elon Musk so successful?

This book includes over 100 integrated black and white images.

The best-selling author of Leonardo da Vinci and Steve Jobs returns. In 2012, Nobel Prize winning scientist Jennifer Doudna hit upon an invention that will transform the future of the human race: an easy-to-use tool that can edit DNA. Known as CRISPR, it opened a brave new world of medical miracles and moral questions. It has already been deployed to cure deadly diseases, fight the coronavirus pandemic of 2020, and make inheritable changes in the genes of babies. But what does that mean for humanity? Should we be hacking our own DNA to make us less susceptible to disease? Should we democratise the technology that would allow parents to enhance their kids? After discovering this CRISPR, Doudna is now wrestling these even bigger issues. THE CODE BREAKERS is an examination of how life as we know it is about to change - and a brilliant portrayal of the woman leading the way.

Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We have not used OCR(Optical Character Recognition), as this leads to bad quality books with introduced typos. (2) In books where there are images such as portraits, maps, sketches etc We have endeavoured to keep the quality of these images, so they represent accurately the original artefact. Although occasionally there may be certain imperfections with these old texts, we feel they deserve to be made available for future generations to enjoy.

Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We have not used OCR(Optical Character Recognition), as this leads to bad quality books with introduced typos. (2) In books where there are images such as portraits, maps, sketches etc We have endeavoured to keep the quality of these images, so they represent accurately the original artefact. Although occasionally there may be certain imperfections with these old texts, we feel they deserve to be made available for future generations to enjoy.

Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We have not used OCR(Optical Character Recognition), as this leads to bad quality books with introduced typos. (2) In books where there are images such as portraits, maps, sketches etc We have endeavoured to keep the quality of these images, so they represent accurately the original artefact. Although occasionally there may be certain imperfections with these old texts, we feel they deserve to be made available for future generations to enjoy.

Following his blockbuster biography of Steve Jobs, The Innovatorsis Walter Isaacson's story of the people who created the computer and the Internet. It is destined to be the standard history of the digital revolution and a guide to how innovation really works. What talents allowed certain inventors and entrepreneurs to turn their disruptive ideas into realities? What led to their creative leaps? Why did some succeed and others fail? In his exciting saga, Isaacson begins with Ada Lovelace, Lord Byron's daughter, who pioneered computer programming in the 1840s. He then explores the fascinating personalities that created our current digital revolution, such as Vannevar Bush, Alan Turing, John von Neumann, J.C.R. Licklider, Doug Engelbart, Robert Noyce, Bill Gates, Steve Wozniak, Steve Jobs, Tim Berners-Lee and Larry Page. This is the story of how their minds worked and what made them so creative. It's also a narrative of how their ability to collaborate and master the art of teamwork made them even more creative. For an era that seeks to foster innovation, creativity and teamwork, this book shows how they actually happen.

In this collection of essays, the brilliant, acclaimed biographer Walter Isaacson reflects on lessons to be learned from Benjamin Franklin, Albert Einstein, Bill Gates, Henry Kissinger, Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev, Hillary Clinton and Bill Clinton, and other interesting characters he has chronicled both as biographer and journalist. He writes also about how he became a writer, the challenges for journalism in the digital age, and offers loving tributes to his hometown of New Orleans.

He was history’s most creative genius. What secrets can he teach us?

Based on thousands of pages from Leonardo da Vinci's astonishing notebooks and new discoveries about his life and work, Walter Isaacson weaves a narrative that connects his art to his science. He shows how Leonardo’s genius was based on skills we can improve in ourselves, such as passionate curiosity, careful observation, and an imagination so playful that it flirted with fantasy.

He produced the two most famous paintings in history, The Last Supper and the Mona Lisa. But in his own mind, he was just as much a man of science and technology. With a passion that sometimes became obsessive, he pursued innovative studies of anatomy, fossils, birds, the heart, flying machines, botany, geology, and weaponry. His ability to stand at the crossroads of the humanities and the sciences, made iconic by his drawing of Vitruvian Man, made him history’s most creative genius.

His creativity, like that of other great innovators, came from having wide-ranging passions. He peeled flesh off the faces of cadavers, drew the muscles that move the lips, and then painted history’s most memorable smile. He explored the math of optics, showed how light rays strike the cornea, and produced illusions of changing perspectives in The Last Supper. Isaacson also describes how Leonardo’s lifelong enthusiasm for staging theatrical productions informed his paintings and inventions.

Leonardo’s delight at combining diverse passions remains the ultimate recipe for creativity. So, too, does his ease at being a bit of a misfit: illegitimate, gay, vegetarian, left-handed, easily distracted, and at times heretical. His life should remind us of the importance of instilling, both in ourselves and our children, not just received knowledge but a willingness to question it—to be imaginative and, like talented misfits and rebels in any era, to think different.

From the author of Steve Jobs and other bestselling biographies, this is the astonishingly intimate story of the most fascinating and controversial innovator of our era--a rule-breaking visionary who helped to lead the world into the era of electric vehicles, private space exploration, and artificial intelligence. Oh, and took over Twitter. When Elon Musk was a kid in South Africa, he was regularly beaten by bullies. One day a group pushed him down some concrete steps and kicked him until his face was a swollen ball of flesh. He was in the hospital for a week. But the physical scars were minor compared to the emotional ones inflicted by his father, an engineer, rogue, and charismatic fantasist. His father's impact on his psyche would linger. He developed into a tough yet vulnerable man-child, prone to abrupt Jekyll-and-Hyde mood swings, with an exceedingly high tolerance for risk, a craving for drama, an epic sense of mission, and a maniacal intensity that was callous and at times destructive. At the beginning of 2022--after a year marked by SpaceX launching thirty-one rockets into orbit, Tesla selling a million cars, and him becoming the richest man on earth--Musk spoke ruefully about his compulsion to stir up dramas. "I need to shift my mindset away from being in crisis mode, which it has been for about fourteen years now, or arguably most of my life," he said. It was a wistful comment, not a New Year's resolution. Even as he said it, he was secretly buying up shares of Twitter, the world's ultimate playground. Over the years, whenever he was in a dark place, his mind went back to being bullied on the playground. Now he had the chance to own the playground. For two years, Isaacson shadowed Musk, attended his meetings, walked his factories with him, and spent hours interviewing him, his family, friends, coworkers, and adversaries. The result is the revealing inside story, filled with amazing tales of triumphs and turmoil, that addresses the question: are the demons that drive Musk also what it takes to drive innovation and progress?

NOW A MAJOR SERIES 'GENIUS' ON NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC, PRODUCED BY RON HOWARD AND STARRING GEOFFREY RUSH Einstein is the great icon of our age: the kindly refugee from oppression whose wild halo of hair, twinkling eyes, engaging humanity and extraordinary brilliance made his face a symbol and his name a synonym for genius. He was a rebel and nonconformist from boyhood days. His character, creativity and imagination were related, and they drove both his life and his science. In this marvellously clear and accessible narrative, Walter Isaacson explains how his mind worked and the mysteries of the universe that he discovered. Einstein's success came from questioning conventional wisdom and marvelling at mysteries that struck others as mundane. This led him to embrace a worldview based on respect for free spirits and free individuals. All of which helped make Einstein into a rebel but with a reverence for the harmony of nature, one with just the right blend of imagination and wisdom to transform our understanding of the universe. This new biography, the first since all of Einstein's papers have become available, is the fullest picture yet of one of the key figures of the twentieth century. This is the first full biography of Albert Einstein since all of his papers have become available -- a fully realised portrait of this extraordinary human being, and great genius. Praise for EINSTEIN by Walter Isaacson:- 'YOU REALLY MUST READ THIS.' Sunday Times 'As pithy as Einstein himself.' New Scientist '[A] brilliant biography, rich with newly available archival material.' Literary Review 'Beautifully written, it renders the physics understandable.' Sunday Telegraph 'Isaacson is excellent at explaining the science. ' Daily Express

On bended knee, he leaned over the stricken boxer and counted him out. When he waved the fight over, there was exactly one second to go in the dramatic and brutal world championship bout and Víctor Galíndez had retained his title. But the referee, his shirt stained with the champion’s blood, had cemented his reputation as a cool professional, one destined to become an esteemed figure in world boxing.

South Africa’s own Stanley Christodoulou has officiated an unprecedented 242 world title fights over five decades, some of them among the most iconic in boxing history, and became his nation’s very first inductee into the International Boxing Hall of Fame. He rose from humble beginnings, learning his trade in the South African townships of the 1960s, and went on to lead his national boxing board as it sought to shed the racial restrictions of the apartheid era. It was a contribution to his country’s sporting landscape that saw him recognised by the president of the ‘new’ South Africa, Nelson Mandela.

The Life and Times of Stanley Christodoulou is Stanley’s memoir in boxing. It takes the reader to a privileged position, inside the ropes with champions and into the company of boxing legends.

The definitive, internationally bestselling biography of Albert Einstein from the author of The Innovators, Steve Jobs and Benjamin Franklin. **Now the basis of Genius, the ten-part National Geographic series on the life of Albert Einstein, starring the Oscar, Emmy, and Tony Award-winning actor Geoffrey Rush** How did Einstein's mind work? What made him a genius? Isaacson's biography shows how Einstein's scientific imagination sprang from the rebellious nature of his personality. His fascinating story is a testament to the connection between creativity and freedom. Isaacson explores how an imaginative, impertinent patent clerk - a struggling father in a difficult marriage who couldn't get a teaching job or a doctorate - became the locksmith of the mysteries of the atom, and the universe. His success came from questioning conventional wisdom and marvelling at mysteries that struck others as mundane. This led him to embrace a morality and politics based on respect for free minds, free spirits and free individuals. Einstein, the classic No.1 New York Times bestseller, is a brilliantly acclaimed account of the most influential scientist of the twentieth century, 'An illuminating delight' New York Times 'Dramatic and revelatory' Sunday Times 'Beautifully written' Sunday Telegraph 'Astonishing' Mail on Sunday

From the moment she was born, Ivory has always been her mother's Snowflake Princess. When her mother Ebony is kept in the hospital Ivory begins to realize that life is not what it seems. Ebony, a young naturalist and poet, walked every day around Hayward Lake with the philosopher. She recorded the flora and fauna through her camera lens, exhibiting at the Kariton Gallery, selling her photography and supporting her husband's work as an English professor. Ivory's father, the philosopher, had been asking the deep questions of men and angels, and taking long walks around the lake with the naturalist as they conversed in poetry. When tragedy struck, they began to search both within and without for the Divine, redefining the meaning in suffering through poetry and symbolism. In this time of life-changing martyrdom, will the naturalist leave the Snowflake Princess and all she loves behind? Will there be an Ebony and Ivory gate into the spiritual realm?

Who is the Madonna of the streets? She wanders without a home, yet has the image of the mother of God. She governs both healing and people without homes. This young woman with a heart for the child of the street has caught the attention of a convent of nuns in Mission, British Columbia. She is illusive yet unforgettable, standing on the shore, disappearing into the woods. A nun of the convent has hidden her cloistered heart away, yet her visions of the Madonna bring her daily closer to the beloved. She has promised to leave her old life forever, taking us into the mystic divine. Her search for truth and authenticity takes us from the sacred moments of convent prayer, to the evening's beauty of an orchard grove, to the far reaches of Africa. Hours from A Convent is a book of hours for sacred meditation, with elements of both mystery and incarnation. Emily Isaacson, poet, captures again in a timeless way, the beauty of prayer, contemplation, and creation.

The motivational parts of my life are provided here in unique fashion. I hope it touches others like it has touched me. A Note To Quote was written to entertain and encourage at several levels. First, there is the obvious enjoyment of reading the poetry. The rhyming is used to create expected rhythm. Second, some words that may not be well understood are underlined. Then, below the poem these underlined words are explained. This makes them readily available. This gives the reader a better understanding of the poem and it offers a chance to expand vocabulary. For example, the word contemplation would be defined under the poem as continuous consideration of victory. This is designed as a fun educational characteristic. Third, after the reader has read the poem and thought about its meaning, the author's inspiration is discussed below the poem for interest. This is the motivational message. A few may not have discussion but just a note worth quoting. Forth, motivational thoughts that may be quoted are in italicized and provide key summaries of the author's opinion. The work is intended to blend motivation and encouragement with some fun and mystery. is to be blessed in the land. Or The dream can be conceived if the action you achieve. Or Each person will need a touch of care so when the time comes be there. Or If you see through only your eyes life may be a series of lies. Or If you can round the bend, it may be straight to the end. www.anotetoquote.com

Leo Flower got his name in a Greenwich Village orphanage because he loved to listen to Mayor Fiorello Laguardia, New York's "Little Flower," read the funny papers on the radio. When Leo is twelve, he is adopted by a priest and his sister and raised as their own. They love and support him throughout his schooling and his time in the military. After leaving the army, Leo becomes a cop and eventually a lieutenant. Time passes, and he's sixty, drifting in a dull but comfortable routine. That existence comes crashing down, however, when his adoptive parents are murdered. With seething vengeance, Leo hunts for their killer. His search is interrupted when he is transferred to an elite unit and assigned to develop a plan to stop the assassination of the Pope during his visit to the United Nations. As his search for the murderer continues, Leo puts his plan to save the Pope into action with the help of a street thug, an old gangster, a famed French actress, a doorman, and the Catholic Church. The search for one thing often leads to the discovery of another; so it is with Leo Flower-a man seeking a killer and finding instead something he never expected.

An artist transforms the burden of their solitude into art, and so Emily Isaacson does in poetry. Her accounts of nature, cultivation, childhood, and transcendence in House of Rain are lyrical and riveting, providing a contrast from realism. Some dominant themes include the comparison of nature to human nature, while the naturalist and the philosopher converse back and forth using their home in the natural world as inspiration. Their insights and experiences of humanity and his habitat are woven into the text in postmodern verse. Emily Isaacson's poetry actualizes silence throughout, the ability to quiet the soul in anticipation to receive from a higher source. Where we are in need of someone to take us by the hand into the realm of understanding, this she does with mirror-like tranquility. Her word painting of the natural world and the house in which she lives vow a deep solitude and serenity found only where modern society has left no footprint.

Soon after arriving in Manila in the early 1990s, Clay Sadler, the regional security officer at the U.S. embassy, is thrust into a chaotic world of uncertainty and deception. In a city where gunfire and explosions are commonplace, an early-morning ambush that leaves a senior American diplomat in critical condition appears to have been just another protest against the presence of U.S. military bases in the Philippines.

But not everyone accepts that assumption. Sadler and the Coronado group, an organization dedicated to working with the Filipino government to prevent acts of violence against Americans in the Philippines, aren't convinced. They're committed to finding out who was responsible, what the perpetrators' motives were, and how to bring them to justice.

While the intelligence resources of both countries are devoted to solving the crime, indications of a coup d'etat by factions within the armed forces intensify. When the U.S. Secretary of Defense, Stan Martin, plans a trip to Manila, threats against Americans increase. Martin insists on proceeding with the visit as planned, but what happens when he arrives at Manila International Airport is captured on live television and shocks viewers around the world.

With more American lives at stake every day, a determined Sadler is compelled to take steps beyond conventional protocol. What he discovers challenges his ability to distinguish truth from illusion.