BOSS KET

The biography of Charles Kettering, inventor extraordinaire, is another tribute to the American dream, for it is the story of how a poor boy from an Ohio farm rose through his own achievements to receive the Greatest Living American Award from the United States Chamber of Commerce. Gifted with a deeply inquisitive nature, Charles learned early to scorn books that pretended to provide positive answers to basic scientific questions. As a young teacher in the Midwest he veered naturally toward educational methods sanctioned years later, always insisting on proof and experimentation. As a student at Ohio State University, he discovered his talent lay in electrical engineering and his first invention for the National Cash Register Company marked the beginning of his success at this time. His motivation and questions, and the economic needs of the times, are developed and dramatically enacted prior to each of Kettering's major inventions, from the automobile self starter to the safe coolant in refrigerators to the diesel engine in railroad trains. The market for this book is clearly evident. Boys who understand automobile mechanics or a smattering of electrical engineering will appreciate the terminology that is so central to the story.