Why Has America Stopped Inventing

America loves innovation and the can-do spirit that made this country what it is--a world leader in self-government, industry, technology, and pop culture. Everything about America has been an experiment and a leap of faith. And one such experiment--upon which all others depend for success--is the U.S. Patent System.

Why Has America Stopped Inventing? takes a close look at why this experiment appears to be failing, and why America has all but stopped inventing.

Our belief that we are the most innovative people on earth is mistaken.

Statistics show that today we invent less than half of what our counterparts did a century and a half ago. Look around: Where are the groundbreaking inventions comparable to those from the Industrial Revolution? Its unforgivable that weve been using the same mode of transportation for over a century. Why are we giving trillions of dollars every year to hostile foreign nations for imported oil when we have the inventive talent in America to solve the nations energy crisis?

We dont have these desperately needed technologies because regular Americans have given up on inventing. Why Has America Stopped Inventing? compares some of Americas most successful 19th century inventors with those of today, showing Jefferson refusing to waste any more weekends examining patent applications, Whitney being robbed of his fortune while the Souths wealth exploded, the patent models that kept British soldiers from burning Washingtons last-standing federal building, the formation of Lincolns cabinet, and Selden crippling the entire U.S. Auto Industry. It also tells the largely unforgotten stories of the Wright brothers airplane monopoly, the Colt revolvers role in the Mexican American War, the Sewing Machine wars, the last six months of Daniel Websters life, and the controversy surrounding the first telephone patents.