Quirky

by Melissa A Schilling

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  Vance, A. Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future. New York: Harper Collins, 2015.

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  Notes

  Introduction

  1. In a study I coauthored with William Baumol and Edward Wolff, we searched more than fifty books and numerous online encyclopedias devoted to noted inventors, inventions, and entrepreneurs. However, such lists have significant overlap, and almost all of our entire sample can be found in the fifteen sources we found to be most useful: David Abbot, The Biographical Dictionary of Scientists: Engineers and Inventors (New York: Peter Bedrick, 1985); Judy Culligan, Tycoons and Entrepreneurs (New York: Macmillan, 1998); Entrepreneurs.about.com; Harold Evans, Gail Buckland, and David Lefer, They Made America: From the Steam Engine to the Search Engine: Two Centuries of Innovators (New York: Little, Brown, 2004); Anthony Feldman and Peter Ford, Scientists and Inventors (Aldus, 1979); J. Fucini and S. Fucini, Entrepreneurs: The Men and Women Behind Famous Brand Names and How They Made It (Boston: G. K. Hall, 1985); Anthony Hallett and Diane Hallett, Encyclopedia of Entrepreneurs (New York: Wiley, 1997); Jim Haskins, African American Entrepreneurs (New York: Wiley, 1998); George Iles, Leading American Inventors (New York: Henry Holt, 1912); www.invent.org; Inventors.about.com; Maury Klein, The Change Makers: From Carnegie to Gates, How the Great Entrepreneurs Transformed Ideas into Industries (New York: Henry Holt, 2003); Roger Smith, Inventions and Inventors (Salem, 2002); Otha Richard Sullivan, African American Inventors (New York: Wiley, 1998); Ethlie Ann Vare and Greg Ptacek, Patently Female: From AZT to TV Dinners, Stories of Women Inventors and Their Breakthrough Ideas (New York: Wiley, 2002). Our study ultimately included data on 513 inventors and entrepreneurs.

  2. J. Richardson, “How Dean Kamen’s Magical Water Machine Could Save the World,” Esquire, November 24, 2008.

  3. Steve Jobs, Stanford University Commencement Address, 2005.

  4. Some social scientists reflexively react to outlier case selection as “sampling on the dependent variable,” a (poorly named) research design error that introduces theory affirmation bias by selecting cases on the basis of a set of criteria and then using those cases as evidence for the criteria. However, the study here is designed more like backward induction: being a serial breakthrough innovator is, in essence, the independent variable, and we are searching for the traits or circumstances that associate with it. There has been no intentional use of theory about those associations to guide case selection.

  5. A. Robinson, Sudden Genius: The Gradual Path to Creative Breakthroughs (Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2010).

  6. A. Teller, speech at South by Southwest Conference, March 2013.

  7. “Edison Sails for Europe on First Trip in 22 Years, to Catch Up with Worries,” Evening World, August 2.

  Chapter 1

  1. W. Herrmanns, Einstein and the Poet: In Search of the Cosmic Man (Wellesley, MA: Branden, 1983), 14.

  2. A. Einstein, The World as I See It (1949; repr., New York: Kensington, 2006), 5.

  3. P. Frank, Einstein: His Life and Times, trans. George Rosen (New York: Da Capo, 1947), 8.

  4. S. Baron-Cohen, “The Male Condition,” New York Times, August 8, 2005; H. Muir, “Einstein and Newton Showed Signs of Autism,” New Scientist, April 30, 2003; T. Marlin, “Albert Einstein and LD,” Journal of Learning Disabilities, March 1, 2000; P. Elmer-DeWitt and C. J. Farley, “Diagnosing Bill Gates,” Time, January 24, 1994; J. Seabrook, “E-mail from Bill,” New Yorker, January 10, 1994.

  5. J. Steinberg, Einstein: The Life of a Genius (New York: We Can’t Be Beat, 2015).

  6. R. W. Clark, Einstein: The Life and Times (New York: World Publishing, 1971),14.

  7. Ibid., 15.

  8. Ibid., 16.

  9. Legendary Scientists: The Life and Legacy of Albert Einstein (Middletown, DE: Charles River Editors, 2016).

  10. P. A. Schilpp, Albert Einstein: Philosopher-Scientist (Peru, IL: Open Court, 1949).

  11. Denis Brian, Einstein: A Life (New York: Wiley, 1996), 4.

  12. Ibid., 11.

  13. W. Isaacson, Einstein (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2007).

  14. F. Wishinsky, Albert Einstein: A Photographic Story of a Life (London: DK, 2005).

  15. B. Hoffman, H. Dukas, and A. Einstein, Albert Einstein: Creator and Rebel (New York: Viking, 1972), 32.

  16. A. Einstein, letter to Conrad Habicht, 1905.

  17. Isaacson, Einstein, 115; Erika Fromm, “Lost and Found Half a Century Later: Letters by Freud and Einstein,” American Psychologist 53 (1998): 1195–1198.

  18. A. Einstein, “How I Created the Theory of Relativity” (lecture, Kyoto, Japan, December 14, 1922). See also A. Einstein, Relativity: The Special and the General Theory (New York: Henry Holt, 1920).

  19. Isaacson, Einstein, 133.

  20. F. Dyson, “Clockwork Science. A Review of Peter Galison’s Einstein’s Clocks, Poincaré’s Maps: Empires of Time,” New York Review of Books, November 6, 2003.

  21. Hoffman, Dukas, and Einstein, Albert Einstein.

  22. Isaacson, Einstein, 15.

  23. Isaacson, Einstein.

  24. Brian, Einstein: A Life, 292.

  25. Letter by Marie Curie, December 1886, quoted in E. Curie, Madame Curie: A Biography (New York: Da Capo, 1937), 72.

  26. Marie Curie, quoted in E. Curie, Madame Curie: A Biography (New York: Da Capo, 1937), 72.

  27. E. Curie, Madame C
urie: A Biography (New York: Da Capo, 1937), 107.

  28. Ibid., 170.

  29. B. Goldsmith, Obsessive Genius (New York: Norton, 2005).

  30. E. Curie, Madame Curie, 119.

  31. A. Robinson, Sudden Genius: The Gradual Path to Creative Breakthroughs (Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2010).

  32. See O. P. John and S. Srivastava, “The Big Five Trait Taxonomy: History, Measurement, and Theoretical Perspectives,” in Handbook of Personality, ed. L. A. Pervin and O. P. John (New York: Guilford, 1999); D. H. Saklofske et al., “Extraversion Introversion,” Encyclopedia of Human Behavior, vol. 2 (San Diego: Academic Press, 2012).

  33. C. Brennan, The Bite in the Apple: A Memoir of My Time with Steve Jobs (New York: St. Martin’s, 2013), 30.

  34. Public Broadcasting System, Tesla: Life and Legacy, www.pbs.org, retrieved May 1, 2017; E. Morris, “Edison Illuminated: The Seventh Volume of Edison’s Papers,” New York Times, March 23, 2012.

  35. Mina Miller Edison, “Why Edison Chooses to Be Deaf,” Literary Digest, August 8, 1925.

  36. G. H. Guy, “Tesla, Man and Inventor,” New York Times, March 31, 1895.

  37. A. Van Diggelen, “Elon Musk: His Remarkable Story in His Own Words,” Fresh Dialogs, January 29, 2013.

  38. Einstein, The World as I See It.

  39. W. Isaacson, Steve Jobs (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2011).

  40. “iPod Launch,” www.youtube.com/watch?v=6SUJNspeux8, October 21, 2001.

  41. R. Stross, The Wizard of Menlo Park (New York: Random House, 2007).

  42. D. K. Simonton, Origins of Genius (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999).

  43. R. L. Brandt, The Google Guys (New York: Penguin, 2009), 28.

  44. Steve Jobs, “Stanford University Commencement Address,” 2005.

  45. “Dean Kamen: Part Man, Part Machine,” Telegraph, October 27, 2008.

  46. Ibid.

  47. Ibid.

  48. A. Vance, Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future (New York: Harper Collins, 2015), 43.

  49. E. Musk, quoted in “Elon Musk Profiled: Bloomberg Risk Takers,” www.bloomberg.com, August 3, 2013.

  50. F. L. Dyer and T. C. Martin, Edison: His Life and Inventions (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1910).

  51. C. R. Long and J. R. Averill, “Solitude: An Exploration of Benefits of Being Alone,” Journal for the Theory of Social Behavior 33, no. 1 (2003): 21–44; T. Amabile, “The Social Psychology of Creativity: A Componential Conceptualization,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 45, no. 2 (1983): 357–377.

  52. Long and Averill, “Solitude.”

  53. Thoreau entries are from B. Torrey, The Writings of Henry David Thoreau (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1906).

  54. Stross, Wizard, 13.

  55. M. Diehl and W. Stroebe, “Productivity Loss in Brainstorming Groups: Toward the Solution of a Riddle,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 53 (1987): 497–509.

  56. B. Mullen, C. Johnson, and E. Salas, “Productivity Loss in Brainstorming Groups: A Meta-Analytic Integration,” Basic and Applied Social Psychology 12, no. 1 (1991): 3–23.

  57. Letter by Isaac Asimov, MIT Technology Review, October 10, 2014.

  58. W. Stroebe, B. A. Nijstad, and E. F. Rietzshel, “Productivity Loss in Brainstorming Groups: The Evolution of a Question,” in Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, ed. M. P. Zanna and J. M. Olson (San Diego, CA: Academic Press, 2010), 2:157‒203.

  59. Isaacson, Einstein.

  60. G. Beals, The Biography of Thomas Edison, www.thomasedison.com, 1999.

  61. W. Isaacson, Steve Jobs (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2011), 118.

  62. Ibid., 119.

  63. J. Richardson, “How Dean Kamen’s Magical Water Machine Could Save the World,” Esquire, November 24, 2008.

  64. Ibid.

  65. L. Fleming, S. Mingo, and D. Chen, “Collaborative Brokerage, Generative Creativity, and Creative Success,” Administrative Science Quarterly 52 (2007): 443–475.

  66. B. Franklin, The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, ed. Charles W. Eliot (1791; repr., New York: Tribeca, 2013).

  67. Goldsmith, Obsessive Genius, 146.

  68. Ibid., 173.

  69. Ibid., 177–178.

  70. Ibid., 178.

  71. Al Alcorn, quoted in “Interview with Steve Jobs’ ‘Only Boss’ Alan Alcorn: Exclusive,” www.youtube.com/watch?v=odcXGIQuxAg, October 11, 2011.

  72. F. Cifaldi, “Steve Jobs, Atari Employee Number 40,” Gamasutra, October 7, 2011.

  73. Isaacson, Steve Jobs.

  74. J. Cook, “Atari Founder Nolan Bushnell on Managing Steve Jobs and More,” www.bizjournals.com, October 20, 2009.

  Chapter 2

  1. A. Vance, Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future (New York: HarperCollins, 2015), 24.

  2. B. H. Harris, Technocracy at Work (New York: State University of New York Press, 1993).

  3. M. Melnychuk, “Roots of Adventure,” Windsor Star, May 13, 2017.

  4. J. C. Keating Jr. and S. Haldeman, “Joshua N. Haldeman, DC: The Canadian Years, 1926–1950,” Journal of the Canadian Chiropractic Association 39, no. 3 (1995): 175.

  5. M. Melnychuck, “Elon Musk Inherited a Lifetime of Adventure from His Sask. Family,” Regina Leader Post, May 12, 2017.

  6. Vance, Elon Musk, 33.

  7. Ibid.

  8. S. Pelley, “Fast Cars and Rocket Ships,” CBS News, March 30, 2014.

  9. Vance, Elon Musk.

  10. M. Chafkin, “Entrepreneur of the Year, 2007: Elon Musk,” INC., December 1, 2007.

  11. Elon Musk, quoted in “Elon Musk Profiled: Bloomberg Risk Takers,” www.bloomberg.com, August 3, 2013.

  12. Chafkin, “Entrepreneur of the Year, 2007.”

  13. “An Evening with Elon Musk,” interview with Alison van Diggelen, www.youtube.com/watch?v=zX7I_Rw8Q0I, January 24, 2013.

  14. S. Outing, “Zip2’s Evolving City Site and Portal Strategy,” Editor and Publisher, August 31, 1998.

  15. “Compaq Buys Software Firm Zip2,” Los Angeles Times, February 2, 1999.

  16. A. van Diggelen, “Elon Musk: His Remarkable Story in His Own Words,” Fresh Dialogs, January 29, 2013.

  17. Vance, Elon Musk.

  18. K. A. Wilson, “The 120-Year History of the Electric Car, in Pictures,” Popular Mechanics, December 16, 2015.

  19. M. V. Copeland, “Tesla’s Wild Ride,” Fortune, July 10, 2008, 82–94.

  20. Ibid.

  21. A. Williams, “Taking a Tesla for a Status Check in New York,” New York Times, July 19, 2009, ST7.

  22. D. Kreindler, “Tesla Roadster 2.5 S Review: Car Reviews,” Autoguide.com, October 12, 2011.

  23. J. Cammisa, “2009 Electric Tesla Roadster—Electric Convertible Sport Coupe,” Automobile Magazine, November 2009.

  24. Vance, Elon Musk, 211.

  25. Pelley, “Fast Cars.”

  26. Chafkin, “Entrepreneur of the Year, 2007.”

  27. J. Boudreau, “In a Silicon Valley Milestone, Tesla Motors Begins Delivering Model S Electric Cars,” Oakland Tribune, June 24, 2012.

  28. A. Pasztor, “SpaceX Lofts Commercial Satellite with Reused Rocket in Historic Flight,” Wall Street Journal, March 30, 2017.

  29. C. Hoffman, “Elon Musk, the Rocket Man with a Sweet Ride,” Smithsonian, December 2012.

  30. A. Teller, speech at South by Southwest Conference, March 2013.

  31. Chafkin, “Entrepreneur of the Year, 2007.”

  32. Pelley, “Fast Cars.”

  33. A. Vance, “Elon Musk, the 21st Century Industrialist,” Bloomberg Business Week, September 13, 2012.

  34. Chafkin, “Entrepreneur of the Year, 2007.”

  35. A. Bandura, “Self-Efficacy Mechanism in Human Agency,” American Psychologist 37, no. 2 (1982): 122–147; A. Bandura, Self-Efficacy: The Exercise of Control (New York: Freeman, 1997).

  36. B. Goldsmith, Obsessive Genius (New York: Norton, 2005), 45.

  37. E. Curie, Madame Curie: A Biog
raphy (New York: Da Capo, 1937), 112.

  38. Ibid., 116.

  39. G. P. Lathrop, “Talks with Edison,” Harper’s, February 1890.

  40. A. Bandura, “Self-Efficacy: Toward a Unifying Theory of Behavioral Change,” Psychological Review 84 (1977): 191–215.

  41. Vance, Elon Musk, 107.

  42. H. Zhao, S. E. Siebert, and G. E. Hills, “The Mediating Role of Self-Efficacy in the Development of Entrepreneurial Intentions,” Journal of Applied Psychology 90 (2005): 1265–1272; N. Krueger and P. R. Dickson, “How Believing in Ourselves Increases Risk Taking: Perceived Self-Efficacy and Opportunity Recognition,” Decision Sciences 25 (1994): 385–400.

  43. B. Franklin, The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, ed. Charles W. Eliot (1791; repr., New York: Tribeca, 2013).

  44. W. Isaacson, Steve Jobs (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2011), 29.

  45. Ibid.

  46. Ibid., 30.

  47. D. H. Schunk, “Developing Children’s Self-Efficacy and Skills: The Roles of Social Comparative Information and Goal Setting,” Contemporary Educational Psychology 8 (1983): 76–86.

  48. See S. Ashford, J. Edmunds, and D. P. French, “What Is the Best Way to Change Self-Efficacy to Promote Lifestyle and Recreational Physical Activity? A Systematic Review with Meta-Analysis,” British Journal of Health Psychology 15 (2010): 265–288; M. van Dinther, F. Dochy, and M. Segers, “Factors Affecting Students’ Self-Efficacy in Higher Education,” Educational Research Review 6, no. 2 (2010): 95–108.

  49. “Bill Bowerman: Nike’s Original Innovator,” News.Nike.com, September 2, 2015.

  50. Ibid.

  51. S. S. Al-Zahrani and S. A. Kaplowitz, “Attributional Biases in Individualistic and Collectivistic Cultures: A Comparison of Americans with Saudis,” Social Psychology Quarterly 56, no. 3 (1993): 223–233; U. Scholz et al., “Is General Self-Efficacy a Universal Construct?” European Journal of Psychological Assessment 18, no. 3 (2002): 242–252.

  52. G. Joet, E. L. Usher, and P. Bressoux, “Sources of Self-Efficacy: An Investigation of Elementary School Students in France,” Journal of Educational Psychology 103 (2011): 649–663; S. Ashford, J. Edmunds, and D. P. French, “What Is the Best Way to Change Self-Efficacy?”; A. L. Zeldin and F. Pajares, “Against the Odds: Self-Efficacy Beliefs of Women with Math-related Careers” (paper presented at the meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Chicago, March 1997).