The Most Productive People in History: 18 Extraordinarily Prolific Inventors, Artists, and Entrepreneurs, from Archimedes to Elon Musk
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Narrated by:
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Kevin Meyer
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By:
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Michael Rank
About this listen
They never knew how he did it. Few composers write more than one or two symphonies in their lifetimes. Beethoven spent a year on his shorter symphonies but more than six years on his 9th Symphony. The prodigy Mozart finished his last three symphonies (39, 40, and 41) in the span of a few weeks. His 25th Symphony took only two days.
None of these speed records match those of baroque composer Georg Philipp Telemann. Friends with both Johann Sebastian Bach and George Frideric Handel, he was the most prolific composer in history and considered to be a leading German composer at a time when giants roamed the earth. During his duties as court musician for Count Erdmann II of Promnitz in Poland, he composed at least 200 overtures in a two-year period. Over his lifetime Telemann's oeuvre consists of more than 3,000 pieces, although “only” 800 survive to this day.
Telemann was not the only person whose productivity defied all reason. Greek scientist Archimedes discovered mathematical phenomena that weren't confirmed for 17 centuries. He also single-handedly defended Syracuse from the Romans by building massive catapults, a huge iron claw that could pick ships up out of the ocean, and even a solar-powered death ray.
Ibn Sina was a medieval mathematician who wrote hundreds of treatises, including a medical compendium used in European universities for the next 400 years. Philipp II of Spain ruled a global empire from his throne in Madrid in the 1500s. Isaac Newton invented classical physics and was one of the inventors of calculus. Benjamin Franklin wrote, published, politicked, invented, experimented, and humored, sometimes all at the same time. Theodore Roosevelt won the presidency twice, was the first American to earn a belt in judo, hunted, wrote numerous books, and read four hours a day even during the busiest moments of his political life.
This book will explore the lives of the 17 most productive people in history.
©2015 Scott Rank (P)2018 Scott RankListeners also enjoyed...
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- A History of Man's Search to Know His World and Himself
- By: Daniel J. Boorstin
- Narrated by: Christopher Cazenove
- Length: 5 hrs and 26 mins
- Abridged
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Why didn't the Chinese discover America? Why were people so slow to learn the earth goes around the sun? How and why did we begin to think of "species" of plants and animals? How, when, and why did people begin digging in the earth to learn about the past? How did the study of economics begin? These are but a few of the fascinating questions answered by Dr. Boorstin, Librarian of Congress Emeritus.
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One of my Top 10 Fav. Books!
- By shannonnn on 05-09-05
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Practicing History
- Selected Essays
- By: Barbara W. Tuchman
- Narrated by: Wanda McCaddon
- Length: 12 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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Master historian Barbara W. Tuchman looks at history in a unique way and draws lessons from what she sees. This accessible introduction to the subject of history offers striking insights into America's past and present, trenchant observations on the international scene, and thoughtful pieces on the historian's role. Here is a splendid body of work, the story of a lifetime spent "practicing history".
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Barbara Tuchman fan faced with reality
- By J. Whittle on 09-27-18
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American Sketches
- Great Leaders, Creative Thinkers, and Heroes of a Hurricane
- By: Walter Isaacson
- Narrated by: Cotter Smith
- Length: 9 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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In this collection of essays, Walter Isaacson reflects on the lessons to be learned from Benjamin Franklin, Albert Einstein, Bill Gates, Henry Kissinger, Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev, Hillary Clinton and Bill Clinton, and various other interesting characters he has chronicled as a biographer and journalist. The people he writes about have an awesome intelligence, in most cases, but that is not the secret of their success.
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Not Really Sketches
- By DAVID on 11-04-11
By: Walter Isaacson
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Bible and Sword
- England and Palestine from the Bronze Age to Balfour
- By: Barbara W. Tuchman
- Narrated by: Wanda McCaddon
- Length: 12 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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Two-time Pulitzer Prize - winning historian Barbara Tuchman explores the complex relationship of Britain to Palestine that led to the founding of the modern Jewish state - and to many of the problems that plague the Middle East today.
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Excellent book, but not quite objective
- By Kellie on 04-25-11
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Marx's General
- The Revolutionary Life of Friedrich Engels
- By: Tristram Hunt
- Narrated by: Norman Dietz
- Length: 17 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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Friedrich Engels is one of the most intriguing and contradictory figures of the 19th century. Born to a prosperous Prussian mercantile family, he spent his life working in the Manchester cotton industry, riding to the Cheshire hounds, and enjoying the comfortable upper-middle-class existence of a Victorian gentleman.
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Not many choices here anyways.
- By Prof. Neil Larsen on 02-16-13
By: Tristram Hunt
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The Mark of a Giant
- 7 People Who Changed the World
- By: Ted Stewart, Chris Stewart
- Narrated by: Art Allen
- Length: 8 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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Throughout the course of history, civilization has been blessed by strong-minded men and women who have impacted our world in extraordinary ways. Their imprint upon humanity is beyond dispute. And many would contend that they were no less than the result of Divine Providence - a gift of God to the human race. The Mark of a Giant examines the lives and contributions of seven men and women who changed the world: Abraham of Ur, Pericles, the Apostle Paul, Sir Isaac Newton, Marie Curie, Martin Luther King Jr., and Mother Teresa.
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So Good!!
- By momof4 on 05-11-15
By: Ted Stewart, and others
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Winston Churchill
- A Captivating Guide to the Life of Winston Churchill
- By: Captivating History
- Narrated by: Sean Daily
- Length: 1 hr and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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Any general biography of Winston S. Churchill will provide an overview of his greatest achievements, but Churchill had other goals and desires that are often ignored and forgotten. What were they? Churchill had a family - a childhood and children of his own - and a political career that began at a young age. He spoke with and entertained some of the biggest names in the world, within both the political and social realms. How did he interact with Franklin D. Roosevelt?
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Had A Great Time With It
- By Mark on 09-23-17
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Sailing from Byzantium
- How a Lost Empire Shaped the World
- By: Colin Wells
- Narrated by: Lloyd James
- Length: 9 hrs and 9 mins
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A gripping intellectual adventure story, Sailing from Byzantium sweeps you from the deserts of Arabia to the dark forests of northern Russia, from the colorful towns of Renaissance Italy to the final moments of a millennial city under siege.
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The Missing Years
- By Nikoli Gogol on 12-29-07
By: Colin Wells
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The Politically Incorrect Guide to Real American Heroes
- By: Brion McClanahan
- Narrated by: Tom Weiner
- Length: 7 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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As presidential candidates sling dirt at each other, America desperately needs a few real heroes. Tragically, liberal historians and educators have virtually erased traditional American heroes from history. According to the Left, the Founding Fathers were not noble architects of America but selfish demagogues, and self-made entrepreneurs like Rockefeller were robber barons and corporate polluters.
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Not a history book
- By BrooklynLove on 12-06-20
By: Brion McClanahan
What listeners say about The Most Productive People in History: 18 Extraordinarily Prolific Inventors, Artists, and Entrepreneurs, from Archimedes to Elon Musk
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- LawyerLady
- 12-03-23
A little disappointed at the choices
I think the author could have done a much better job of choosing a better batch of people. There were some religious ones in there that made no sense unless his church paid him to write the book. So I say about half of the people were interesting.
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- John Galt
- 04-25-21
Didn't learn anything useful
The book focuses on almost exclusively men of which many sacrificed actually living life versus obsessive work output. There is only one woman subject in the book. She so focused on her work obsession that she died of ill health at age 33. What's the point of that? I didn't gain any useful knowledge from this book.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Dear Samm
- 12-27-21
Super informational
I liked learning about different people but the last few chapters in conclusion were actually more enjoyable than the peoples schedules, lives and habits.
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- bam_bam320
- 07-08-18
lots of great information
I learned a lot from this book I was very glad to listen to it it open my eyes to a lot of possibilities about the way I spend my day and my week and a great information about planning out my projects and my schedules and I'm glad to listen to
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3 people found this helpful
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- Frances B Deters
- 07-14-21
a sort synopsis of some very interesting people
very much enjoyed the first half but lost interest in the religious ending. would prefer more writings on people who produced overall society input, not religious
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1 person found this helpful
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- Drew James
- 08-03-20
Inspiring, Intriguing, Thought-provoking work.
Excellent Narrator. Solid Character Biographies. Details insights to several key players throughout modern history.
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- Peter
- 02-14-21
Extremely good. It can save you from burnout.
Great quality of content. Some tips from this book useful for my job, that allowed me to escape burnout and stay healthy after 3 new exploitative managers in my enterprise:
1) As managers value seeing you sending e-mails late at night, I go to gym, meet friends and read during job hours (at lunch time or other hours, they assume you are at meetings). I work the same 8 hours a day, but sending e-mails at 22:00 hrs in the night, gives the impression of a very busy worker and these managers don't give me new irrelevant tasks, as they assume me working 24/7.
2) as I concentrate on the 80/20 pareto, even when loaded with huge amount of work, I always manage to eat, sleep, exercise and share with my family, all well as I escape tasks that don't add much value and usually no one complains if a do them 1 or 2 weeks later. (some even month later after someone request the information).
3) I always wondered why some people working 16 hours per day have middle Incomes while some people training 8 hours a day have elite sports level or elite positions in business.
4) I wondered in the past, why people getting sick in my enterprise, obese and having family problems for lack of time, earn less than me...
All these answers you will find in this excellent book.
By the way... I wrote this comment while brisk walking in my desk treadmill... I listened this whole audio book while doing push ups, washing dishes, etc...
If you want to boost your efficiency, read this awesome book.
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3 people found this helpful
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- Hector
- 09-22-18
teaching effectiveness
I liked the way the teach what is lo productivity , how it is by showing with examples of well known people in history.
it is a learning about history too, people, what they did and their impact... and the last chapter is a very good end to conclude the book.
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- Jake J. or Rita J.
- 01-29-22
Not great
It was OK. The biographies were short, which for some was OK, but the application was pretty sparse. Probably worth the time, but not what I was looking for.
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