by David Lindsay, 1997, 404 pages, $25.00, ISBN 1-56836-203-X. Published by Kodansha America Inc.

Scan the newspapers of America, view endless TV programs listen alertly to your favorite radio stations and sum up how much space or time is devoted to inventors or inventing. The odds are great you will seldom encounter an inspiring story that will fire up your or your children's creative boilers. Indeed, if inventors or successful entrepreneurs are mentioned at all, the odds are also great they are portrayed as diabolical geniuses out to do the world no good.

Yet, as this author observes, from the earliest days of our Republic to relatively recently, we have soared to greatness among nations on the wings of inventors and entrepreneurs who were also geniuses at showmanship, or in today's vernacular, masters of PR.

He documents his case by detailed examinations of some of the best known names in invention from the start of the United States up to the television era. Surprisingly, the earliest creators faced the greatest resistance by the public to showmanship. Benjamin Franklin's Philadelphia public was dominated by Quakers who frowned on public displays such as plays, games and magic shows. Franklin had developed a fascination over the newly discovered uses for electricity, but he had to bring the public's notice to the use of lightning rods by sponsoring a colleague who put on shows. Europe, at that time, was intrigued by Franklin's experiments. His fame there later gave him legitimacy in America.

Also, it is surprising to learn that the first patent office head, Thomas Jefferson, although an ingenious inventor himself, frowned on commercialism. The industrialization of England had generated some economic ills and this was a factor in forming his attitude.

Robert Fulton is remembered for his steamboat because he demonstrated it in a masterful by-invitation-only manner. John Fitch had actually shown his steamboat twenty years earlier. Inventor showmanship in America had begun.

Samuel Morse used his telegraph to deliver a live report of a vote at the Democractic National Convention. This was the world's first live coverage. Even though the telegraph was already in use in England for signaling locomotive movements, Morse's live report stirred up the public so much they lined up to visit his telegraph office!

Cyrus McCormick did not, as commonly believed, invent the reaper, but he did become a master at publicity and merchandising. He staged contests (which involved the audience), offered money-back guarantees, and gathered testimonials. He hired what today would be called advance men to arrange local publicity and contests. They became, in fact, distributors in their alloted territories. All of these became standard American business practices.

Elias Otis had gotten nowhere until Barnum asked him to demonstrate his safety elevator. Up until then, elevators were not considered safe for human use. When Otis, in top hat and tails, ordered his assistant to cut the hoisting rope and he and his elevator quickly came to a safe stop, the public formed a whole new image about elevators.

It is interesting to speculate how the history of technology may have been changed by the proper use of promotion. The author notes that among the devices shown at the 1876 Centennial was a Map Facsimile Telegraph which the Signal Service actually used to transmit weather maps 150 miles.

An ugly use of publicity and showmanship was Edison's electrocution of dogs and cats in an attempt to persuade the public that Tesla's AC current system was dangerous and Edison's DC current system was not. Unfortunately for Edison, it was not true and, in this case, Edison was the villain and not the hero.

Incidentally, it took the Wright Brothers five years to convince the public they had flown. The author ascribes this to the "Rumford Rule". Count Rumford had observed you must involve as many people as possible in a demonstration. The average person must "see and touch" before they believe. An example of this principal was when David Sarnoff broadcast the Dempsey-Carpentier fight in 1921. Radio sale then leaped forward.

In conclusion, the author wonders if the modern inventor has lost his or her sense of drama. He asks if the rise of large corporations has "marginalized" the individual inventor. He does see hope and promise in the coming of the Internet, Cyberspace and virtual reality.

If there is one main lesson to be learned by reading this book, it is that even great inventions seldom sell themselves. You must find a way to excite the public. Modesty may be nice, but showmanship pay the bills. An easy and delightful read.