Invention

A Life

By: James Dyson

Narrated by: James Dyson

Dyson has become a byword for great design, brilliant invention and global success. Now, James Dyson, the entrepreneur who made it all happen, tells his remarkable and inspirational story in Invention: A Life of Learning through Failure.

'By continually challenging ourselves, investing in the future and experimenting, we can continue to make the future. We must never stop. Never, for one second become comfortable.' James Dyson

In this spirited autobiography, James Dyson interweaves his own life story with a wider exploration of the importance of invention. On the way, the reader encounters challenging and inspirational characters, radical inventions, adventurous engineering, cultural fads, political gamesmanship, legal battles and much else besides.

Invention: A Life of Learning through Failure is a 21st century call to arms: creative invention through the research, design and manufacture of technologies and products empowers not only employees and employers, but the economy at large, while the very acts of imagining, shaping and making things enriches our lives. James Dyson sees people as producers as well as consumers, the inventing and making of things part of a natural instinct. Invention is a lifelong commitment. It has been James Dyson’s life.

Critic reviews

'I left [this book] enlightened about engineering and design, and impressed by Dyson's dogged, trailblazing spirit.' (Oliver Shah)

‘The ferociously creative entrepreneur who emerges in these pages revels in practical experiment and learns from failure… Dyson’s struggles against the advice of experts and in the teeth of endless commercial and technical challenges haven’t lost their power to fascinate… Those who persist with Invention despite its flaws will be rewarded.’ (Marc Sidwell)

'Stories of consumer products and gadgets drive Mr Dyson's narrative forward, but parallel...[he] tells a story of the struggles of entrepreneurship. A final thread...is his passionate case for more and better engineering and science education in British schools' (Henry Petroski)

‘An entertaining and inspiring memoir by a fellow who’s nearly impossible to pigeonhole – and good thing, too . . . The British inventor and vacuum-cleaner magnate delivers a paean to creativity and creation . . . His overarching point is very well taken: He makes a powerful argument that our educational systems are not giving sufficient attention to fostering creativity and the independent spirit required of the inventor, thereby stifling innovation’

‘[Dyson’s] written a book called Invention, but that’s the publisher’s title. He wanted to call it Failure because what we’ve all forgotten in our modern-day blame culture is that no achievement is possible without foul-ups. Every successful invention is the result of trial and error, with the emphasis on error . . . the central message in his book is that there are no shortcuts to success’

‘This is not a book about business, but rather education, mentorship, and self-reliance. Invention: A Life celebrates the unknown and encourages stepping into it and uncovering entrepreneurism’

‘Dyson, like other great entrepreneurs, finds joy in failing because each experiment teaches him something he can use to reinvent a product or category. In fact, the words ‘failure’ and ‘fail’ appear over 50 times throughout Dyson's book . . . Dyson's famous 5,126 failures offer valuable lessons in storytelling for all entrepreneurs and business owners’

‘In his book Invention: A Life, Dyson, explains not just how he built his empire but how his life is as much about failure as it is about success – and why that makes him happy’

Wow wow wow

What an extraordinary human being hiding in plane sight. Humbling, thoughtful and inspiring! A treasure!

Invention on steroids!

Before I listened to this book the word Dyson did not exist in my vocabulary. I missed out for sure. James achieved many things. The book is truly inspirational. The fact that he is reading it, is special. The input by his son and wife at the end is a suitable Amen to his life. I hope I have the privilege of meeting James some day.

Lost the plot

The author shares his perspectives throughout the book but at no point was I clear where the book was heading to. A clearer storyline would've made the book much more appealing, particularly as it is in audio format. On the positive note, it's great to have the author narrate his own book. And I may well end up with a Dyson vacuum cleaner at home :)

A really great read

Now I might be a tad predisposed to such a tome. I’m an entrepreneur who originally studied industrial design, loves both history, a good yarn and emerging tech (isn’t it an amazing time to be alive). But I really did love this book. Very inspiring.