STEVE WOZNIAK

The ``smallest boy'' in his elementary school class who would design the first truly user friendly computer, Wozniak has a life story that will beckon any who have ever pursued interests not immediately compelling to peers. This admiring biography chronicles the early years, Wozniak's multi-college degree (with 13 years between his junior year and senior year, during which he invented the Apple and became wealthy), and his days post-Apple. Kendall makes relevant just how recently computers have appeared on the scene; of special value, regarding an invention with this kind of impact on American culture, is a section demonstrating how neither Wozniak nor his partner Steve Jobs knew just how their machine would be used (word processing never entered their minds) but that it would nevertheless be important. Such insights only humanize the inventor archetype, usually played to godlike proportions in works about Bell or Edison. Those in search of corporate politics will not find them here; instead, the true story (and almost a clichÇ now, in Silicon Valley) of a nerdy student making good—and making millions. (B&W photos, glossary, index) (Biography 8-12)