Bunch of Amateurs: Inside America's Hidden World of Inventors, Tinkerers, and Job Creators

What is it that drives the success of America and the identity of its people? Jack Hitt thinks it's because we're all a bunch of amateurs.
Americas self-invented tinkerers are back at it in their metaphorical garagesfiddling with everything from solar-powered cars to space elevators. In Bunch of Amateurs, Jack Hitt draws a fascinating look at amateurs and their pursuitsfrom a tattooed young woman in the Bay Area trying to splice a jellyfishs glow-in-the-dark gene into common yogurt to a space fanatic on the brink of developing the next generation of telescopes from his mobile home.
Beginning with Ben Franklins kite, Hitt argues that history is bound up in a cycle of amateur surges, each one driving us to rediscover the true heart of the American dream. Amateur pursuits are too often criticized as outdated practices until a Mark Zuckerberg steps out of his dorm room with the rare but crucial success story.According toHitt,we arepoised at another frontier that will lead, once more, to the newestincarnation of the American dream.