Recipient of the Columbia University prize in American Economic History in honor of Allan Nevins. “The life story of Charles F. Kettering seems unblemished by any episode that would shake anyone’s faith (least of all Kettering’s) in the American Way. ‘America’s most famous and wealthiest engineer’ was hired in 1904 by the National Cash Register Company as an ‘inventor.’ He moved onward and upward to become research chief of General Motors, and when he died in 1958 at 82, he was justly honored for myriad achievements and very rich to boot. Kettering was the great improver of the automobile, the machine that we embraced above all as the fulfillment of the democratic and commercial promise of technology... Boss Kettering is written from newly explored primary sources and is the best sketch so far of a man of many unfamiliar facets... In 1909 [Kettering] quit NCR to set up with an engineer colleague... the Dayton Engineering Laboratories Company (better known as Delco)... to enter the challenging field of automobiles. His best-known creation was the electric self-starter, but it was only one of dozens of key improvements patented by Delco’s chemical, metallurgical and chemical staffs. In 1918 General Motors bought out the operation and merged research departments... As ‘the Boss’ of [G.M.’s] large research staff, Kettering developed leaded gasoline (polluting but efficient) to eliminate ‘knock,’ Freon refrigerants (G.M. owned Frigidaire), superior diesel engines for locomotives, Duco enamels for car bodies and many other products that enhanced the fortunes of the G.M. and Du Pont corporations... Boss Kettering deserves thoughtful scrutiny by anyone who wants to understand the cultural context of invention in the mass-production age.” — The New York Times “Kettering, who set up and for many years directed the General Motors Research Corporation, was widely recognized as the greatest America inventor and engineer since Thomas Edison... [an] absorbing biography.” — The New York Times “[A] major scholarly biography... Among the many merits of Leslie's study is the skill with which he probes and illuminates Kettering’s long and brilliant career... Leslie discerningly analyzes the strengths and limitations inherent in his subject’s convictions and leadership style... Leslie has combined an impressive amount of research in previously untapped primary sources, a sure grasp of scientific and technical detail, and a convincing sense of Kettering's human characteristics to excellent effect... this solid and superior study amply deserves the favorable recognition it has received, and it will serve as a model for future scholarship in the history of industrial research.” — Isis “Charles F. Kettering has deserved an authoritative, scholarly biography; he now has it... Describing and evaluating [Kettering’s] varied activities, and doing so with clarity and judgment, constituted a formidable challenge to Stuart Leslie, but he has met it with distinction.” — Technology and Culture “In this well-researched, prize-winning book, Leslie deals with Kettering fairly, pointing out his failings and limitations as well as his many triumphs.” — Indiana Magazine of History

Portrays the life of the engineer and inventor Charles Franklin Kettering, and depicts his career as a researcher for General Motors

This Encyclopedia examines all aspects of the history of science in the United States, with a special emphasis placed on the historiography of science in America. It can be used by students, general readers, scientists, or anyone interested in the facts relating to the development of science in the United States. Special emphasis is placed in the history of medicine and technology and on the relationship between science and technology and science and medicine.

“Billy Durant (1861-1947) put together General Motors, model by model, and twice lost it — to the bankers and the engineers, and to ego. It’s a big, meaty, broadly suggestive story that Bernard Weisberger tells — properly qualified and documented — to rescue Durant from the ‘oblivion which is the price of failure in America.’ Durant’s fate, it appears, was in his stars. His energy and drive came from maternal grandfather Henry Howland Crapo, midwest magna-merchant, first citizen of Flint, and twice Michigan’s governor. The failure — dreaded and repeatedly — was that of his wastrel father. Leaving school young, he quickly ‘unveiled his true, shining gift, which was salesmanship’ — but not of the conventional, glad-handing sort; rather, he conveyed his own faith in the product, opening new vistas for the customer. The problem, to find a worthy product — or to make one — was solved with the appearance of a simple cart, mounted on ingenious springs, that didn’t jounce. Within hours Durant had bought out the cart ‘factory,’ raised the necessary money, and acquired a partner — the first of the exceptionally able associates (Nash, Champion, Kettering, Chrysler, Sloan) whom he fired with his dreams. The crucial jump into auto production — ‘a whole new physical and economic landscape’ — came with the foundering Buick; and it was then that Durant discovered, critically, the ability to raise money in the stock market from the sale of nebulous assets. As Durant goes on by this means to incorporate GM, to add a parts division, to diversify (‘Frigidaire’ was his name and baby too), Weisberger returns intermittently to his dual nature — the empire-builder impatient of routine and detail. But it was also pride that he’d proven himself not his father’s son that brought Durant down — for he lost GM the second time by trying single-handedly, in 1929, to prop up the tottering market for its stocks; and this madness the Morgans and Du Ponts could not excuse. Nothing, however, becomes Durant more than his failure to admit defeat; after the collapse of another auto company, launched under his name, he returned to Flint to set up, foresightedly, a respectable bowling alley. His ‘pathetic dignity and courage’ cap a memorable personal portrait far above the business-biography norm.” — Kirkus “Billy Durant deserved a good biography, and he got one... Weisberger has... collect[ed] every scrap of information that could be found and [put] it together in a complete picture of Durant and his work. It gives the first comprehensive account of his family background and private life... A variety of interesting figures appear, some well-known, others now forgotten — Alfred P. Sloan, Pierre Du Pont, John J. Raskob, Charles W. Nash, Walter Chrysler, Louis Chevrolet, David D. Buick. Each has a biographical sketch. Durant himself is appraised remarkably dispassionately, good points and bad, from his ability to see the great opportunities in the automobile industry to speculative mania that ultimately destroyed him... [Durant] emerges in this book very much like the protagonist in a Greek tragedy. He rose high and fell far because his great talents were offset be equally great flaws... Billy Durant could make dreams. He just could not make them come true.” — The Washington Post “[A] monumental work... Weisberger, ha[s]... painstakingly explored and researched America’s greatest success story.” — The Lantern (Columbus, Ohio)

The field of business history has changed and grown dramatically over the last few years. There is less interest in the traditional `company-centred' approach and more concern about the wider business context. With the growth of multi-national corporations in the 1980s, international and inter-firm comparisons have gained in importance. In addition, there has been a move towards improving links with mainstream economic, financial and social history through techniques and outlook. The International Bibliography of Business History brings all of the strands together and provides the user with a comprehensive guide to the literature in the field. The Bibliography is a unique volume which covers the depth and breadth of research in business history. This exhaustive volume has been compiled by a team of subject specialists from around the world under the editorship of three prestigious business historians.