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Invention

A Life

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Invention

By: James Dyson
Narrated by: James Dyson
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About this listen

 Dyson has become a byword for great design, brilliant invention and global success. Now, James Dyson, the entrepreneur who made it all happen, tells his remarkable and inspirational story in Invention: A Life of Learning through Failure.

'By continually challenging ourselves, investing in the future and experimenting, we can continue to make the future. We must never stop. Never, for one second become comfortable.' James Dyson

In this spirited autobiography, James Dyson interweaves his own life story with a wider exploration of the importance of invention. On the way, the reader encounters challenging and inspirational characters, radical inventions, adventurous engineering, cultural fads, political gamesmanship, legal battles and much else besides.

Invention: A Life of Learning through Failure is a 21st century call to arms: creative invention through the research, design and manufacture of technologies and products empowers not only employees and employers, but the economy at large, while the very acts of imagining, shaping and making things enriches our lives. James Dyson sees people as producers as well as consumers, the inventing and making of things part of a natural instinct. Invention is a lifelong commitment. It has been James Dyson’s life.

©2021 James Dyson. All rights reserved. (P)2021 Simon & Schuster, UK Business History & Culture Innovations Professionals & Academics Technology Inspiring

Critic Reviews

'I left [this book] enlightened about engineering and design, and impressed by Dyson's dogged, trailblazing spirit.' (Oliver Shah)
‘The ferociously creative entrepreneur who emerges in these pages revels in practical experiment and learns from failure… Dyson’s struggles against the advice of experts and in the teeth of endless commercial and technical challenges haven’t lost their power to fascinate… Those who persist with Invention despite its flaws will be rewarded.’ (Marc Sidwell)
'Stories of consumer products and gadgets drive Mr Dyson's narrative forward, but parallel...[he] tells a story of the struggles of entrepreneurship. A final thread...is his passionate case for more and better engineering and science education in British schools' (Henry Petroski)
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What an incredible journey, James Dyson and family have had. If this book teaches you anything is that nothing is set in stone, nothing is permanent. And that tenacity, self belief, imagination, humility and hard work, can take you anywhere. Amazing story and a book to make you believe you can change anything.

Highly inspiring and educational

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One of the best books I've ever read/heard. As a fellow engineeer and entrepreneur I found it very inspiring. It has encouraged me to question everything. Thank you James Dyson and family for all the effort you've put into this and the Dyson business as a whole.

Inspiring and so much more than I expected.

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This is an incredibly inspirational true story about a career that has had many issues to overcome. I'm very grateful to have had this oppurtunity to learn from James Dyson and his sometimes rocky but ultimately successful life.

an absolute ledgend

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Great reading for any budding entrepreneur in the fields of design & engineering.
Narrated by Mr. Dyson, Invention covers his journey from Student to Today, getting started with some unique projects through to his creation of the bagless cyclone vacuum which revolutionized the vacuum industry.
Very much a read focused on the technical aspects of his career & business ventures without being at all difficult to understand, with little to no stories of James's personal life, though deffinately recommend.

Billion dollar business building.

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A great story and an inspiration to all that have tried and failed. Solution: Celebrate failure and try again!

Excellent Book and story.

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a commendable career for dyson. and kudos to sticking it out through tough times.

a great book. highly recommended

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History and starting Dyson was really good but second half becomes more like an infomercia. It turns into a long list of buildings, architects, awards, dollar values of grants and James stating how annoying British bureaucracy is. Shame because I really enjoyed the first half of the book.

Starts well but gets repetitive mid way through.

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excellent story very entertaining hearing how Dyson created an Empire despite the adversity he encountered early in his career.

it does become a bit like sitting next to your opinionated drunk uncle app a Christmas function though. Dyson tends to rent his way through the second half of the book but the first half is definitely worth the read.

Great story, but devolves a bit into a rant

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