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Television Review: American Genius

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National Geographic Channel. Premiering June 1

Behind many historic inventions—flight, electricity, personal computers—are tales of heated rivalries that spurred the inventors on. This television miniseries profiles the competitions of such geniuses as the Wright brothers and Glenn Curtiss, Nikola Tesla and Thomas Edison, and Steve Jobs and Bill Gates. Actors convey the intensity of the feuds, and interviews with experts illuminate the characters and the science that made the innovations possible. The eight-part docudrama reminds us that sometimes the brightest minds need a competitive nudge to reach greatness.

Clara Moskowitz is a senior editor at Scientific American, where she covers astronomy, space, physics and mathematics. She has been at Scientific American for a decade; previously she worked at Space.com. Moskowitz has reported live from rocket launches, space shuttle liftoffs and landings, suborbital spaceflight training, mountaintop observatories, and more. She has a bachelor's degree in astronomy and physics from Wesleyan University and a graduate degree in science communication from the University of California, Santa Cruz.

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Scientific American Magazine Vol 312 Issue 6This article was originally published with the title “American Genius” in Scientific American Magazine Vol. 312 No. 6 (), p. 78
doi:10.1038/scientificamerican0615-78d