electricity through the air. it turns out to be very difficult, but you can send sound through the air pretty easily. you can send sound through the air but we can't hear or even sense. .. my arraignment is that amateurism comes in cycles. it comes in in economic distress. it's not a coincidence that hue

let packard went to the garage. it's been restored in to the original state that it was when he first went in there. it is the great temple of american engineer. we i did dry from the burdens of the domestic sphere, the spouse, the kids, the dog, bills. it's not a coincidence that jobs and wozniak went in the garage ahead with inflation next years of gerald ford and here we are. the amateurs are popping up. i mean, pat tents are spiking. they are a bunch of -- [inaudible] it's hard say that pat innocents indicate anything theaves trying to steal something from apple commuter or something. there are other indications there are more start-ups.

if you look at the jops numbers from april we have 119,000 jobs created in april according to the government. how many of those 119,000 jobs were created by big firms once funded by wall street investors. once funded by what we flatter bankers with the term job creators? 4,000. 4,000 came from large firms. 58,000 came from start-ups in small business. it used to be a common belief amanage democrats and republicans that main stream small business was the engine of american creativity. or at least jobs got created. we now, i think, both parties ad hoc to wall street to the point we have to flatter them with the ridiculous term job creators. they're bankers. they fund things. that's good. but they're no more job creators than a farmer for buying my food at the grocery store. the real risk takers. what is the very -- who takes

the risk? certainly not the hedge fund. they're very identity is to hedge risk. their running away from it. they ceability stand it. that's the point of their being. right. the real risk takers are these people who risk being called fools and aid yachteds for taking their ideas to market. meredith perry who was told by scores of engineers that the idea was ridiculous. she has a company now. not every amateur gets to have that company. it happens enough. i think in a time of hardship, mother -- you know, necessity is the mother of invention. a lot of people go the garage out of choice. probably not so much. i think the cycle comes around from from time to time and thankfully my bock is coming out around the time it seems to be cranking up. [laughter] anyone else have any questions? >> yes, sir? >> consider people like --

[inaudible] >> sure mark zuckerberg. dropped out of college. if you're going to think -- in our culture getting credential is a form of professionalism. if you look at the long list of college dropouts, and they're celebrated here. disuker are berg is one, gate is one, jobs is one. the list goes on and on. ben frng lynn was one. michael -- yeah. and the interesting historical freudian argument about franklin. it was an apprentice in the printing trade. he hated it. he bolded and jumped on a boat and fled to philadelphia. ran away and invetted the whole new ben franklin down in philadelphia. the one we know. he dropped out. and some historians brand him and others argue that all

americans are sort of recapitulating the franklin story. we feel a need to bolt from something, our state, our past, charleston, what it is and find another version of yourself. all day with a sense that your feet are in that police station. franklin did go back to boston. not really. he was always a philadelphia man after that. so. anybody else. one last question? >> [inaudible] hang on. an anxious nation awaits your question. >> did you find any parallels between amateurs? you know, time idea different regions or something? >> um, i don't know. probably. certainly they what about first riddled with paranoia about somebody else having that idea.

actually, you know, most of the ones i tended to be hanging out weren't driven toward making money immediately. if things work out, sure. then like all of us. we like to eventually make money. but the fact is that what defines their amateur im. the day-to-day motivation for going in to that place. the kitchen lab or the garage, or the dorm room or the cellar or whatever is not money. just inability not to go there. that's what almost all of them said to me. was that no place else they would rather be. that's where they were. one last question over here. sorry. [laughter] i'd like to know what your most humorous experience was doing research for the book. >> certainly that moment when that calculus teacher explained

to me what preed agree collapse was. actually, i think when meredith and i were trying to taser the plasma in to the bacteria. we had set up a whole arrangement. we romping up the wall socket up to 2500 volts. that's the death chair. literally the same voltage as the death chair from the 191020s. and it was extremely dangerous. we were taking all sorts of precautions. but at one point, we did hit the wires in such a way that suddenly all the lights in half the building went out. we thought that was charming, really. [laughter] [laughter] anyway. thank you for coming, everyone. appreciate it. [applause] all this week watch c-span for live gavel to gavel coverage

of the year republican national convention from tampa, florida. among the speakers this evening the wife of the nominee, ann romney, and new jersey governor chris christie will deliver the keynote. watch every minute, every speech on c-span. here on c-span2 it's booktv all day every day with highlights of non-fiction authorities and books with the past year. on c-span 3 also throughout the conventions 4 hours of american history tv with lectures, oral history and ak loo the a historical american sides and art facts. -- arty facts. spend the weekend in ohio state capitol columbus as booktv, american history tv, and c-span local content vehicles look behind the scene as the history and literary life of ohio's largest city. on booktv on c-span2 brows the rare books collection at ohio

state university. >> in december 192020 in an american periodical called "little review." we are copies. the reason i brought them out not show you the first edition but show you a later edition that is extremely rare. 19 21, the american government declared on scene and porn graifng and the book was banned. people wanted to read it, however. and we actually have copy of one of the pirated edition. if you notice the spines, alice in wonderful land an the little minister. >> throughout the weekend and saturday at noon eastern literary life in columbus, ohio with booktv and c-span local content vehicles on c-span2. earlier booktv said down with kareem abdul-jabbar at the 2012 los angeles times fest value of books to talk about the new children's book what color is

any world. the lost history of foreign minister inventers. the professional basketball hall of famers spoke and took questions for about twenty minutes. >> our next author here in thenx studiot is basketball great kareem abdul-jabbar the latest book project is a children book.tk what color isar any world?lor m the lost history weres" african-american inventers. tell me about the project. >> it started really in a book that i ask 1996, which was an overview of black history in america. in one of the chapters that i wrote, i focused on lewis howard let them are. in checking out what different inventors did in the 19th century, it really made me aware of the fact that there were a

lot of black inventors that people didn't know anything about. so i got this idea from that experience. i figured i would do a book on inventors related to children, because there are so many children who are not aware of these things. >> today's children seem to be interested in gaming and videos. why the vehicle of a book to get interested in the story you want to tell? >> i think that a book has the ability to reach children on different levels than games do. it is a lot more in-depth, and a random-access. they can go to any part of it, physically, and draw out the information. >> there are pages of the biography about the inventors. i am sure that you spend time with your coauthors to decide who would be in the book.

how did people make the cut? >> our choices had to do with the fact that we wanted to pick people who did things that were very important to everyday life. the bread machine or food preservation order food refrigeration. the fact that nowadays you can ship food around the world because of refrigerated food transport, that was an idea that was first thought up by a black american. all of these inventions have really affected our lives. there are so many other inventions in there. look at all the lives that have been saved just because we have blood typing and the blood bank. again, very important for all of our lives. and most people don't understand that that was a black american and they were crucial in figuring these things out. >> including super soaker, the big squirt gun.

>> some of these kids play with it, and they are not aware of who invented it. this is such an important aspect for it telecommunication. three d. is such an important aspect of telecommunication. >> programs here are interactive, see you can call up kareem abdul-jabbar about his book. this is his seventh book. the first one was back in 1983. he's been writing for 30 years. we welcome your questions about his writing and about his projects and what life is an author is like light in addition to his accomplishments in life. we will put the phone numbers at the bottom of the screen. we can also take your tweets and e-mails. look through the list, and there

was only one woman. why is that? >> we picked her because what she did was so significant. there are other women inventors, of course, but she made a significant invention that has been widely used. it is the most practical for one, for us to use. >> the concept of this book, by the kids and the people african-american? are you targeting and african-american audience. >> i wasn't targeting african-americans alone, but i thought since all of these people came from the african-american community, i would focus on that. it is crucial that we reach minority kids. so many minority kids today, if

you ask them who they wanted to be, they would name you are an athlete or an entertainer. they only see themselves as being able to succeed in those two realms. athletes, athletics, and entertainment. there is such a wide variety of things that young people can do today to make a significant contribution to american life and to earn a great living and be recognized as doing something meaningful. >> you spend a lot of time talking to kids about this message, especially african-american kids. there are many other avenues besides entertainment and sports. forgive me, it sounds ironic coming from someone with a claim to fame on sports. have you got a message to the young people? >> it doesn't last forever. the crew doesn't last forever. the fact that i'm able to be an author and a public speaker has to do with what i learned in school.

the fact that knowledge is power, which gives you the ability to do things that you want to do, that is a very vital message. i want to make sure that young people get that message. >> i want to get our viewers involved in the conversation. let's take our first call. you are on the air. welcome. caller: thank you. my question for mr. kareem abdul-jabbar, first of all, it is an honor. my question is how do you feel about more african-americans being in the nba, my second question is would you ever want to be the head coach for the la lakers, and my third question is could you tell me who your favorite african american athlete is? >> i guess i will handle this with the last question first. my favorite inventor is lewis

latimer and doctor charles schultz. what they did for people was so significant all the way around the world. lewis letter, by doing alexander graham bell's application drawings, he was right there at the salvation of telecommunication and electronics. also because of what he did with illumination and these are important things all around the world. modern lights would not be able to exist without artificial lighting. i think that his invention is very important. doctor charles has saved so many lives and impacted so many lives because of the knowledge that we have through the science of blood typing. again, this is a very important contribution worldwide. i think and i hope that answers your questions. sorry don't have time to answer

all three. >> let's move on to charlotte in south bend, indiana. >> yes, hello. what an honor it is to talk to you. i wonder if you talk about the book you wrote about the buffalo soldiers and the significance of the buffalo soldiers to american history reign. >> well, i think the industry of buffalo soldiers is important to american history because the westward experience of our nation was a key element in to us becoming a world power. we could not have done that if we had not been able to utilize all of the land that the united states is comprised of. in order to do this, it took people to go out and map the roads, telegraph lines, and explored the best places to live and everything. all of this was accompanied by

our armed forces, the u.s. cavalry and infantry. buffalo soldiers were key elements of that effort. i think that when people find out about the efforts of the buffalo soldiers, they appreciate more about how we became a great nation, and all of this happened right after the civil war right up until the end of the 20th century. >> many of your titles, all of them are biographies. they tell stories about people. why are you attracted to people stories? >> i think that people stories are important because most people don't envision black americans doing things that everyone else does. when you see their stories, which are just like anyone else's story, you get an idea of our common humanity and

understanding that these are fellow citizens. they are not exotic creatures. they are fellow citizens and trying to do the same things to help make this a great nation. >> your hope is obviously to influence individual young people. who is the biggest influence on you? >> i would have to say in so many ways, jackie robinson. i was a baseball fan when i was a kid. jackie robinson was also a role model in other ways. my mom always pointed out that he was very intelligent and articulate. he went to ucla. he ended up going to do ucla. >> you are on the campus of usc. >> we won't get excited about that. so much of what he did with his life was an example. after his sports career, he became a businessman. a very successful businessman. he pointed out things and with regard to economics that black

americans needed to know about. he was very -- very much a wall model and mentor in many of the aspects of his life. >> that's call from our viewing audience is lisa in nashville. caller: thank you for taking my call. i love c-span 2 and "book tv." mr. kareem abdul-jabbar, it is such an honor to talk you into here about the book you have written. i knew you were an author, but i did not realize how many books you have written. what was the title of your first book and how do you decide on the subjects of iraq's? >> the title of my first book was a giant steps. it is my biography. i'm a pretty tall person, i take long steps. that's how i got the title of my book. but i choose my subject matter with regards to how to impact people and explain things about american life that a lot of people are not really aware of.

>> raymond is your partner on books. how does your partnership were? >> bremen and i worked together in great ways. -- we sit down and work together and defined areas that we want to touch on. i will give him notes, and he will write some of the things that i want to say. if he has captured my voice on it, then we go back and forth. i rewrite things to give him things to edit and vice versa. >> is writing easy for you or is it a real labor? >> writing is a labor for everybody. you have to really have a real set purpose to be a writer. the longer i do it, the easier it gets. >> next question for you is from

jane and calabasas, california. i'm sorry, first jane in new york city. >> that afternoon. i appreciate you. you raised the question of of only one woman being in the book. you did not answer that question and i would like to revisit it. my concern is that there is only one woman. there are several women inventors. why out of all african american inventors fair, white is there only one -- why is there only one -- and all only one -- and all the ones we did during black history month, okay, joy, thanks.

>> the ones that we were able to work fine, -- the ones we were able to find, of course, there could be a book on women inventors. all the other ones we thought were significant and we didn't want to exclude women. so we made sure that we had our women's invention. the woman whose future. >> you are also very involved in education, which is a big effort to get science technology and math and engineering and the like. is this in concert without ever? >> yes, i think that is a fact that all the people that are heroes in this book, they are mathematicians and engineers and, a chemist and other people involved in science.

it really is a key issue in what is talked about with regard to education. so many young people don't understand that those subjects are the ones that will be the key for us having a job in the 21st century. it will be very technologically oriented with regard to the positioning for good jobs. people with good math and science backgrounds will be able to find jobs in many areas, and that is a key issue for any young people who are thinking about going to college and trying to pursue higher education and. >> it is time for jane now in calabasas. >> did you attend a catholic high school in new york city? >> yes, i did. i attended an academy. it is closed now, but i graduated in 1965.

>> are you so they're? >> didn't have an influence on you? >> i was wondering why the question. >> my high school definitely had an influence on me. it helped me understand what the fundamentals are and foundations of education. i know a lot of my friends went to school where they could take shop and stuff like that. you could not do it at my school. everything was academically oriented. >> julie in birmingham, alabama. probably the last. caller: hello? >> yes, go ahead, please. to . caller: julie, are you there? to yes, i am there be not. caller: i think that your book is a wonderful thing. it is a great idea.

the reasons behind it are very important, and i just wanted to say thank you for writing the book. >> thank you very much. i hope you enjoy it, and i hope you get a chance to talk to your friends and let them know that there are some great types of information in here for young people and what the deal with. >> that was a nice way to end our segment with kareem abdul-jabbar. or is the book. "what color is my world: the lost history of african-american inventors." as we closer, you just accepted a request from secretary clinton to be an ambassador, cultural ambassador. he just started that. what is the job going to be? >> the job entails me going and speaking to people, selects -- select groups in young countries and emphasizing the value of education and giving them an insight into what life in america is all about. >> have you done any chance you? >> i have done a trip to brazil.

it went very well. i had a great time. i had great interactions with the people that i met with. >> thank you for interacting with the c-spa all this week watch c-span for liefl gavel to gavel coverage from the republican national convention. the wieft of ann romney and chris chrisy will deliver the keynote speech. watch every minute on c-span. here on c-span2 it's booktv all dayered throughout the convention with highlights of non-fiction authors and books from the past year. on c-span three throughout the convention 4 -- 24 hours of american history tv. as you can see there are a large crowds at the annual book

publishers convention in new york city. and booktv on c-span2 is on location. try to learn some of the new upcoming titles. we're joined by will who is the associate publishers of the tent tell me >> is part of the penguin group. >> that's right. we have a conservative political enprint and we have exciting stuff coming up with marco rubio of florida. his book is coming up on june 19. a memoir called "american son." everybody who watches c-span knows he's one of the most interest and talked about politicians in america right now. a lot of speculation about the future. what's amazing is his family story. he's the son of two immigrants from cuba who came here working class family and for them to produce a senate who is only 41 and kind of the talk of the whole country. it's amazing story how he got point. >> by the time this airs, that book will c