A 10th Anniversary Sale book! Monturiol's Dream: The Extraordinary Story of the Submarine Inventor Who Wanted to Save the WorldCategory-history The author of The Truth About Everything: An Irreverent History of Philosophy here presents the rediscovered story of the strange, noble life and unlikely dream of 19th-century utopian socialist Narcís Monturiol. Moved by the plight of Catalan coral divers, one of whom he saved from drowning, Monturiol conceived of the submarine as a device that could help man harvest the ocean's bounty, and taught himself physics, chemistry, and biology in order to build one. His Ictíneo II, launched in 1864, became the world's first true submarine when Monturiol devised an oxygen-producing engine for it. Matthew Stewart portrays the obsessed visionary, his work of true genius, and his historical invisibility, all against the backdrop of his native Barcelona, which has always moved forward by looking back. ISBN: 0375414398 Authors: Matthew Stewart. Pages/Length: 338 Publisher: Pantheon Publication Date: 2004 ONE NEW copy in STOCK |