The History of The Fire of Genius

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I wrote previously how I transitioned from science to history. Then I made some observations on the science of history. Digging into the history of Lincoln: The Fire of Genius seems the logical next step. There are actually two ways to do this.

First, what about that title? The title comes from a somewhat obscure science lecture that Lincoln delivered several times in 1858. Moderately attended, the lecture was not exactly his best oratory work, but it ended on the following line:

The patent system…secured to the inventor, for a limited time, the exclusive use of his invention; and thereby added the fuel of interest to the fire of genius, in the discovery and production of new and useful things.

The lecture has been dubbed “Lecture on Discoveries and Inventions” based on a few lines early in the content, although there was no actual title given in the papers we have. The book, Lincoln: The Fire of Genius, discusses that lecture and a related science speech he gave in a chapter appropriately enough called “The Science Lectures.” Lincoln’s point in the above quote is that the patent system was instrumental in driving innovation, a point that was proven during the Civil War.

Okay, that’s the first part. The second part is how this particular book came to be.

Back in 2015, which gives you some idea of how long this project has been boiling in my brain, I wrote about Speed Dating for Agents. You can click back to read the whole thing, but one line noted that my pitch (in 2012) was for a non-fiction book combining science and history. While the agents I spoke with that day liked my idea, I actually walked away from that conference with an opportunity to write the book that became Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity. That led to my Edison book…and then two e-books…and then to my first Lincoln book, Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America.

Needless to say, writing all those books dragged me away from the book I originally pitched. That book “combining science and history” would eventually become Lincoln: The Fire of Genius.

Of course, the book I pitched is not The Fire of Genius, not exactly. Looking back at my notes for that book I can safely say that the concept evolved over all those years. The idea I wanted to express became more focused. The thread of science and technology through Lincoln’s life became more tightly woven into the fabric of the times as well as Lincoln’s place in those times. Even while I was writing the other books, I continued to do more research on The Fire of Genius. I spent more time at the Library of Congress, the National Archives, and a dozen other libraries around the country, both in person and online. I visited many of the places that Lincoln lived and worked. I had many conversations with Lincoln scholars, including such luminaries as Harold Holzer, Michael Burlingame, and Sidney Blumenthal. Each was encouraging about the concept and provided reams of helping insights. Blumenthal even wrote the foreword for the book.

The end result of this combination of time and research has led to a much stronger book. My publisher has been great, providing not only the editor but a copyeditor, production editor, a variety of assistants, and the director of publicity to guide the marketing. I’m proud of the product that I, and they, have produced and can’t wait to finally hold a hard copy in my hand.

As I write this, the release date is only a month away (September 1, 2022). And today is also the day my Goodreads Giveaway of ten hardcover copies ends, so if you’re reading this on July 31st, go here to enter the contest. [If you’re reading this in August 2022, check out Goodreads for a chance at 100 e-books]

The book is available now for pre-order on the Rowman & Littlefield website (Lyons Press is a trade imprint of Rowman). You can also pre-order it on Amazon and Barnes and Noble (click on the respective links to pre-order). Release date is scheduled for September 1, 2022, after which you can also find it online, in chain and independent bookstores, and elsewhere.

For those of you who are writers, my next post will dig through the process of proposing, contracting, writing, editing, and waiting that the book goes through as it transitions from an idea to a physical book on Barnes and Noble’s bookshelves. Stay tuned.