Overview

Charles Stark Draper, often referred to as 'The Father of Inertial Navigation', was the moving force behind the development of the floated gyroscope in the United States. He was an engineer, a scientist, and an inventor; an inspiring teacher; and a dynamic leader responsible for creating the laboratory that brought inertial navigation to fruition for operational use in submarines, aircraft, and space vehicles. But Draper also created and ran the famous laboratory, now bearing his Name, that helped make MIT into one of the nation's leading research centres for government research. The story of Draper's life and his accomplishments cannot be separated from those of the Instrumentation Laboratory, which are one and the same. Thus, this biography of Charles Stark 'Doc' Draper, is also a chronological accounting of the MIT Instrumentation Laboratory and its contributions to the nation. Draper's personality, drive, and intellectual curiosity, where at the heart of the success of the MIT Instrumentation Laboratory. But Draper's success was also due to his association with MIT, a place that provided the resources, funding, and environment that enabled Draper to achieve greatness. The presence of the Institute's engine laboratory and the research fellowship that drew him back to MIT to pursue a graduate degree laid the ground work for his doctoral dissertation and the development of both the Engine Indicator and the MIT-Sperry Apparatus for Measuring Vibration. For those who are interested in naval history, three of Draper's accomplishments stand out: the Mark 14 lead-computing gunsight, the Submarine Inertial Navigation System, and the inertial guidance systems designed and engineered by Draper's laboratory for the Polaris, Poseidon, and Trident ballistic missiles. The Mark 14 was the first of several Draper gunsights and directors that revolutionised anti-aircraft gunnery in World War II. Close to eighty percent of all enemy aircraft shop down by the U.S. Navy ships in the Pacific during the period from October 1944 thru January 1945 were brought down by Draper equipped anti-aircraft guns. Draper's relationship with the Navy has continued to this day. Draper, the research institution bearing his Name that evolved from the MIT Instrumentation Laboratory, continues to be the Navy's sole source for Trident's Mk-6 guidance system.

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Hot Spot of Invention is a superb study of an engineer and leader. It captures the spirit of engineering from the 1930s through the 1970s while focusing on one of the period's most influential practitioners. A fascinating read. --Air Power History This is a well-written and researched book.... The book can be used as a basis and source for both technical research and historical investigation. It is also an enthralling read and [it's] recommend. --Aerospace Hot Spot of Invention delivers a fascinating study of a protean engineer. It captures the spirit of engineering from the 1930s through the 1970s, highlighting one of its most influential engineers. --The Daily News Hot Spot of Invention provides an engineers' eye view of the stream of technological military wonders, from lead-control gunsights to inertial guidance systems, that emerged from Charles Stark Draper's Instrumentation Laboratory at MIT. --Audra Wolfe, author of Freedom's Laboratory: The Cold War Struggle for the Soul of Science In Hot Spot of Invention, Thomas Wildenberg expertly mixes the personal and the technical to bring the life of Charles Stark Draper, who taught most of the great vehicles of the 20th century - sea, air, and space - where they were and where to go, into vivid focus. --Brent D. Ziarnick, Airpower Department Deputy Chairman, Air Command and Staff College Thomas Wildenberg's biography of Charles Stark Draper--the first ever undertaken--is an excellent introduction to the life of a pugnacious and astonishing inventor-entrepreneur-educator who pioneered technologies that influenced modern navigation and national defense as well as helped land humans on the moon. --Deborah Douglas, director of collections and curator of science and technology, MIT Museum Wildenberg is an independent historian and scholar whose special interests include naval aviation and technological innovation in the military. He does an amazing job of showing how Charles Stark Draper's extraordinary talent for applying science to engineering was supported by MIT, to the extent that the laboratory that would one day bear Draper's name became a centre of innovation - a hot spot of invention - that attracted high-profile government research projects. Build the right kind of incubation environment, and they will come. The book's thorough attention to the intertwined story of Draper and the MIT Instrumentation Laboratory is itself supported by a helpful glossary, an index, and extensive endnotes and source material citations. --Maritime Engineering Journal Wildenberg yanks Charles Stark Draper out of the scientific shadows with his usual deft writing in this easy to read narrative. Draper, an inventor and scientist of the caliber of Edison or Tesla, emerges as a technological wizard who literally positions America for victory in the Cold War and beyond. --John Terino, Chairman, Department of Airpower, USAF Air Command and Staff College

In Hot Spot of Invention, Thomas Wildenberg expertly mixes the personal and the technical to bring the life of Charles Stark Draper, who taught most of the great vehicles of the 20th century sea, air, and space where they were and where to go, into vivid focus. Brent D. Ziarnick, Airpower Department Deputy Chairman, Air Command and Staff College Hot Spot of Invention provides an engineers -eye view of the stream of technological military wonders, from lead-control gunsights to inertial guidance systems, that emerged from Charles Stark Draper s Instrumentation Laboratory at MIT. Audra Wolfe, author of Freedom's Laboratory: The Cold War Struggle for the Soul of Science Wildenberg yanks Charles Stark Draper out of the scientific shadows with his usual deft writing in this easy to read narrative. Draper, an inventor and scientist of the caliber of Edison or Tesla, emerges as a technological wizard who literally positions America for victory in the Cold War and beyond. John Terino, Chairman, Department of Airpower, USAF Air Command and Staff College Thomas Wildenberg s biography of Charles Stark Draper the first ever undertaken is an excellent introduction to the life of a pugnacious and astonishing inventor-entrepreneur-educator who pioneered technologies that influenced modern navigation and national defense as well as helped land humans on the moon. Deborah Douglas, director of collections and curator of science and technology, MIT Museum

Wildenberg yanks Charles Stark Draper out of the scientific shadows with his usual deft writing in this easy to read narrative. Draper, an inventor and scientist of the caliber of Edison or Tesla, emerges as a technological wizard who literally positions America for victory in the Cold War and beyond. --John Terino, Chairman, Department of Airpower, USAF Air Command and Staff College In Hot Spot of Invention, Thomas Wildenberg expertly mixes the personal and the technical to bring the life of Charles Stark Draper, who taught most of the great vehicles of the 20th century - sea, air, and space - where they were and where to go, into vivid focus. --Brent D. Ziarnick, Airpower Department Deputy Chairman, Air Command and Staff College Hot Spot of Invention provides an engineers'-eye view of the stream of technological military wonders, from lead-control gunsights to inertial guidance systems, that emerged from Charles Stark Draper's Instrumentation Laboratory at MIT. --Audra Wolfe, author of Freedom's Laboratory: The Cold War Struggle for the Soul of Science Thomas Wildenberg's biography of Charles Stark Draper--the first ever undertaken--is an excellent introduction to the life of a pugnacious and astonishing inventor-entrepreneur-educator who pioneered technologies that influenced modern navigation and national defense as well as helped land humans on the moon. --Deborah Douglas, director of collections and curator of science and technology, MIT Museum

Author Information

Thomas Wildenberg is an independent historian and scholar with special interests in aviators, naval aviation, and technological innovation in the military. He has written extensively about the U.S. Navy during the interwar period. His articles have appeared in several scholarly journals including the Journal of Military History, American Neptune, and U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings. He is also the author of six books on U.S. naval history covering such varied topics as replenishment at sea, the development of dive bombing and the history of the torpedo in the U. S. Navy. These include: Gray Steel and Black Oil, Destined for Glory, Mitchell's War with the Navy, Ship Killer and Striking the Hornet's Nest.

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