146 Amazing People
Also in Paperback!
This fourth volume of astonishing people has more amazing inventors: the doctor who invented kidney dialysis. The engineer who came up with the life-saving EpiPen. The writer who thought up the communications satellite — and didn’t make a penny on the idea. The chemist who invented the MRI machine. The man who designed the disposable syringe, the tranquilizer gun, the childproof pill bottle, the silent burglar alarm, and more. The doctor who came up with Gatorade, and why it’s called that. The engineer who came up with the key technology to allow cell phones to work. The doctor who did the first coronary bypass — and came up with the Mobile Army Surgical Hospital concept, and the TV producer who co-created the TV show M*A*S*H. The guy who figured out a new tire material would make great bulletproof vests.
And then there’s the artists, like the man who came up with Bozo the Clown. The founder of Comic-Con. The toymaker who made more than 2 billion toys. The inspiration for Rainman. The designer who created the POW/MIA flag.
The public servants, such as the founder of Habitat for Humanity, and what set him on that path. The woman who suggested to the president that he create a new agency: NASA. The longest-serving police patrol officer known in the history of the United States. Watergate informant “Deep Throat”. The pharmacologist who figured out why it’s so hard to quit smoking — and came up with a way to help. The nurse who brought hospices to the United States.
And Mr. Wizard!
The mainstream media tend to worship celebrities and sports figures, but the real heroes in life are often anonymous to the public.
All those stories are in this book, plus more than a hundred more (146 total). The stories are fascinating: you won’t believe the cool people you have missed in your life. These are the people you will wish you had known.
The Honorees
Included in Volume 4:
- Siren turned scary Yvonne De Carlo
- Social commentator Art Buchwald
- Friend of the homeless Abbe Pierre
- Nasdaq founder Gordon S. Macklin
- The semiconductive Alan G. MacDiarmid
- Educator Walter Sondheim Jr.
- Press freedom proponent John Seymour Chaloner
- Propagandist Lothar-Guenther Buchheim
- Campy actor John Inman
- The Smoke-Free Peter VanVechten Hamill
- Gene mapper Milton Wexler
- MRI inventor Paul C. Lauterbur
- Prolific cartoonist Johnny Hart
- Reading teacher Marie Clay
- Frequent driver Warren Avis
- Archivist Robert M. Warner
- Laser pioneer Theodore Maiman
- Mother Anna Radosz
- Physicist Pierre-Gilles de Gennes
- Oscar expert Patrick Stockstill
- Women’s rights pioneer Edwin Traisman
- Mr. Wizard Don Herbert
- TV Producer Ed Friendly
- Super Skipper Eugene B. Fluckey
- The very fit Ralph S. Paffenbarger Jr.
- Tuberculosis expert George W. Comstock
- Cinematographer Laszlo Kovacs
- Conservationist Melvin Lane
- Civil rights attorney Oliver W. Hill
- Big Bang father Ralph Alpher
- Oscar Madison model Roy Gerber
- Olympic hero Richard Jewell
- Inspiring author Madeleine L’Engle
- Mickey Mouse marketeer Ralph Kent
- The clear-eyed Norman G. Gaylord
- The good-hearted Edmund H. Sonnenblick
- Screenwriter Charles B. Griffith
- Hateful writer Peg Bracken
- The constantly evolving Leslie Orgel
- Careful listener Chad Varah
- Rosemary author Ira Levin
- The well-structured Herbert Saffir
- Gator-aider J. Robert Cade
- Anti-drunk-driving pioneer Robert I McCarthy
- Capitol Stepper Bill Strauss
- Entrepreneur J. Lawrence Cassingham
- Egalitarian governor Lee Sherman Dreyfus
- The playful Richard Knerr
- WASP Evelyn Pinckert Brier
- Photographic enabler Henry Froehlich
- Poster boy John Alvin
- Helicopter inventor Frank Piasecki
- Wendy cinematographer David Watkin
- Entebbe raider Dan Shomron
- Wingman Donald Lopez
- A.I. Heretic Joseph Weizenbaum
- Scifi master Arthur C. Clarke
- Thinking man’s writer Abby Mann
- Movie mogul Guy McElwaine
- The chaotic Edward Lorenz
- The resistant Germaine Tillion
- The regretful Philipp von Boeselager
- Kiwi tinkerer Colin Murdoch
- Smokeless Murray Jarvik
- The ignored Sister Catherine Mulkerrin
- The Fickle-Fingered Dick Martin
- The indestructible Jack Lucas
- Breastfeeding advocate Edwina Froehlich
- Real character Stan Winston
- The high-fidelity Carl G. Eilers
- Medical laser pioneer William R. Bennett Jr.
- The rosy Bill Lofthouse
- Greatest surgeon Michael E. DeBakey
- Last lecturer Randy Pausch
- Media freedom advocate Clay T. Whitehead
- Second half Lou Teicher
- Westerner Jack A. Weil
- Virus researcher Thomas H. Weller
- Sesquipedalian Laurence Urdang
- The worldly Don LaFontaine
- Typewriter expert Martin Tytell
- End-of-an-era owner Henry Z. Steinway
- One of the Gang Thomas McDonald
- Sign language linguist Edward Klima
- Blood doctor Ernest Beutler
- Jazz musician Neal Hefti
- Inventive telephone researcher Amos E. Joel
- White House photographer Cecil Stoughton
- Hospice pioneer Florence Wald
- Comedy writer Irving Brecher
- Slinky entrepreneur Betty James
- The Absolutely Fabulous director Bob Spiers
- “Deep Throat” informant W. Mark Felt
- Book editor Thomas B. Congdon Jr.
- The prolific Donald E. Westlake
- Number Six, Patrick McGoohan
- Jazzy sitcom writer Gordon Mitchell
- Toymaker Hans Beck
- Habitat founder Millard Fuller
- Artificial organ inventor Willem J. Kolff
- Cancer researcher John Kanzius
- The honorable tabloid Rocky Mountain News
- War correspondent Ann Bryan Mariano
- Hollywood record label executive Alan W. Livingston
- Gymnastics pioneer Glenn Sundby
- Newsman Irving R. Levine
- Columnist (and spy!) Tom Braden
- Banned Books Week founder Judith Krug
- Circus scout Timothy J. Holst
- Legendary swinger Frankie Manning
- Space law expert Eilene Galloway
- Citizen lobbyist Robert B. Choate Jr.
- Suicidologist Edwin S. Shneidman
- The not-forgotten Newt Heisley
- Anti-Nazi minister Franklin H. Littell
- The once-a-cop, always-a-cop Manuel Curry
- Data-mining expert Rajeev Motwani
- Shaky inventor John Houghtaling
- Super-registrar Sylvia Levin
- Hungarian nationalist Bela Kiraly
- Principal Frank Mickens
- World War I veteran Henry Allingham
- Music video pioneer Heinz Edelmann
- Accidental medical benefactor Sidney Zion
- Australian bushfire survivor Koala Sam
- Pro-freedom journalist Malik Akhmedilov
- Diagnostician A. Stone Freedberg
- Psychological warfare operative Barbara Lauwers Podoski
- Parawing inventor Francis Rogallo
- M*A*S*H co-creator Larry Gelbart
- KKK nemesis W. Horace Carter
- Beatles’ inspiration Lucy Vodden
- Lifesaver Sheldon Kaplan
- Heroic teacher Heather Christensen
- Airy thinker Richard Whitcomb
- Essential scholar Ted Sizer
- Rocket scientist Qian Xuesen
- Comic-Con founder Shel Dorf
- Original Smokejumper Earl Cooley
- Seventh-degree black belt Rusty Kanokogi
- Bulletproof chemist Lester Shubin
- Safety engineer H. Harrison Hurt
- Man of 50 stars Robert G. Heft
- Fertility savior Walter E. Stamm
- Rainman inspiration Kim Peek
- Equal-opportunity golfer Bill Powell