The Nearly Men

There is something about failure that seems to fascinate us all. The back shelves of history are strewn with the little-read tales of those individuals who have been unfairly deprived of their place in the Who's Who of science and technology.

In The Nearly Men Mike Green examines some of the most important inventions and scientific discoveries of the last four hundred years, and attempts to uncover the stories of deceit and treachery behind each of them. It looks beyond what the common reference sources tend to tell us, and aims to identify the people who were truly responsible for such important technological advances as the microchip, the computer, the light bulb, the telephone, radio communication, the laws of planetary motion and even the theory of evolution. In doing so a rather exclusive club has been created, though its membership may not be a highly coveted one.