Victor McElheny has been covering an age of technology and science for four decades, for The New York Times, Science, the BBC and U.S. public television. He was also inaugural director of the Banbury Center of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. His 30-year quest of the biography of Edwin Land began in the White House on 13 February 1968, when Land received the National Medal of Science. At the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, he founded and for 16 years has run the Knight Science Journalism Fellowships.

"Fascinating revelations....Well worth reading for its insights into the process of innovation." -Business Week In this masterful biography of the Magellan of modern technology, Victor McElheny portrays a great inventor and entrepreneur in action. Second only to Edison in the number of patents he received (535), Land not only invented instant photography but he built a gigantic enterprise that turned out polarizers, high-speed and x-ray film, identification systems, 3D and instant movies, and military devices for aerial reconnaissance. He developed a new theory of color vision and, during the Cold War, spearheaded the development of the U2 spy plane. McElheny's insights into Land's innovative genius will speak to anyone interested in business, science, photography, or government. "This insightful, meticulously researched and exquisitely written book transcends simple portraiture.…A must-read for practicing and would-be capitalists."-New Scientist "A fascinating account.…A major contribution as well as an appreciation of the accomplishments of one individual and the contagion of his competence and achievement."-Physics Today