Legendary Scientist Forrest Mims Partners With Make: To Publish New Memoir

SANTA ROSA, Calif., January 18, 2024 (Newswire.com) - Make: announces the release of Maverick Scientist: My Adventures as an Amateur Scientist, a new book by Forrest Mims detailing his extraordinary life and career. Named one of the “50 Best Brains” by Discover magazine and author of the best-selling Radio Shack electronics books, Mims chronicles how a person with no formal academic training in science forged a distinguished scientific career that includes work with NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).  Forrest describes his life as “one continuous science fair project.”

“Forrest Mims used his creativity and passion to forge a career in science and stand unflinchingly alongside professional scientists,” said Make: President Dale Dougherty. “That willingness to follow your curiosity and try new things is at the heart of the Maker Movement, and Forrest’s story is proof that regular people can make scientific discoveries that change our understanding of the world. We are proud to publish his book so that more people can learn from his example.”

Maverick Scientist recounts Forrest’s lifetime of improbable, dramatic, and occasionally outright dangerous experiences in the world of science: At thirteen he invented a new method of rocket control; at seventeen he designed and built an analog computer that could translate Russian into English; while majoring in government at Texas A&M University, Forrest created a hand-held, radar-like device to help guide the blind.

Mims went on to co-found MITS, Inc., producer of the first commercially successful personal computer; wrote a series of electronics books for Radio Shack that sold more than seven million copies; and designed the music synthesizer circuit that became known as the infamous Atari Punk Console. All this came before he started consulting for NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, NOAA’s famous Mauna Loa Observatory, and earning the prestigious Rolex Award given to those whose endeavors have made a significant contribution to improving life and protecting the planet. 

This limited edition hardcover includes an autographed bookplate and more than forty full-color and black and white images of artifacts from Mims’s personal archive, including the 1966 electronic “seeing aid” for the blind that he developed as a college student; original hand-drawn pages from his popular Radio Shack electronics books; and the hand-built Total Ozone Portable Spectrometer that helped him win a Rolex Award and inspired citizen scientists around the world.

Maverick Scientist: My Adventures as an Amateur Scientist by Forrest M. Mims III

• Limited Edition Hardcover 
• 6" x 9.125" 
• 328 pages
• More than 40 full-color images
• Autographed Bookplate Included
• Available exclusively at www.MakerShed.com/Maverick

Source: Make: