Code Name Ginger: The Story Behind Segway and Dean Kamen's Quest to Invent a New World

"It's going to change the world."-Dean Kamen

They came from across the country and from the lab down the hall. Some left behind lucrative jobs, some moved their families. Each hand-picked engineer was drawn by the same irresistible lure: the chance to work with a brilliant, eccentric inventor on a secret project. Dean Kamen was already a millionaire with an impressive list of medical inventions to his name, but none of them had excited him like his newest world-changer. Extraordinary things were happening inside his New Hampshire laboratory, things no one could find out about-at least not yet.

This is the unforgettable story of "Ginger," officially named the Segway Human Transporter: a self-balancing, electric-powered people mover that Kamen called "magic sneakers." With the pacing and excitement of a suspense novel, Code Name Ginger documents the birth of a marvelous new technology and the feats of its remarkable inventor, his team of engineers, and the financiers who pursued them.

Steve Kemper was the only journalist granted complete access to the Ginger project as the machine was designed, prototyped, and readied for manufacture. He takes us inside a world of ingenious engineering, in which improbable ideas become real: wheelchairs climb stairs, scooters balance on two wheels, polluted water is made clean. He reveals Kamen as few have seen him: in the heat of invention, racing against time, caught between his idealistic beliefs and his obsession to make Ginger a commercial success. He chronicles the wheeling and dealing of high-rolling investors and New Economy kingpins from John Doerr to Steve Jobs. And he delivers vital business lessons about leadership, entrepreneurship, marketing, and innovation while recounting a technological adventure that will be studied and argued about for decades.

For anyone who has ever wondered what it was like inside Thomas Edison's lab or the Wright Brothers' garage, here is the twenty-first century equivalent. Step inside Dean Kamen's laboratory and discover the thrills and risks of invention. The Segway's story, like the machine itself, is appreciated best by climbing aboard and taking a ride.

You may have heard of Dean Kamen as the archetypical American inventor, whose ideas made him a millionaire in his twenties, but who wears his uniform of a denim shirt, jeans and boots everywhere, from the workshop to the Oval Office to the boardroom. Or you may have seen the Dateline story on the revolutionary wheelchair (It climbs stairs! It rears up and balances on two wheels!) his company is even now jumping through FDA approval hoops. Or maybe you know a high-school kid competing in the FIRST robot-building team competition that is another of Kamen's brainchildren.

I loved this book, for a lot of reasons. First, it's unflinchingly honest. This is no worshipful paen to Kamen and the Segway, It is a balanced (pardon the pun) look at the inventor, his company, and the engineering and business behind the creation of the Segway, warts and all. Kemper writes an even-handed account, but the way he cares about his subjects shines through the entire book.

The author respects Kamen's genius, creativity, and sheer chutzpah, but also shines a merciless light on his many shortcomings. And Kamen IS likeable, and every bit the visionary wunderkind that the media paints. But reading how his team sometimes suffered in the Great Man's shadow made me squirm.

Although he professes to be neither an engineer nor a business guy, Kemper captures the spirit and creativity of engineering art AND business. He explores the sometimes-twisted and sometimes-sublime group dynamics that manifest when a group of people are pushing the technical envelope. He accurately describes both the "Eureka!" moments and the bone-numbing tedium necessary to turn a great idea into a complex, working whole.

Finally, the book is a great look inside the twenty-first century dream lab that is DEKA Research. The author gives tantalizing glimpses of the other on-going projects along with Project Ginger. And I pretty much drooled over the descriptions of Kamen's house. [...]


A Look Inside the Whirlwind   July 27, 2003
J. Straub (Cleveland Heights, OH United States)
6 out of 6 found this review helpful

If Edison or Ford had allowed us a peak inside their laboratories, what would it have been like? Clearly visiting one of the various museums dedicated to them does not do justice to the events that went on there. While Dean Kamen?s legacy is not yet assured to be within this group, we fortunately will have a chronology.

Kemper has captured the mystique of the engineering marvel in a book that reads more like a novel than a traditional business book. The various, frank participant comments that he recorded allow us to gain insight into the engineering and management challenges that Segway has overcome.

Many within the startup and capital space suggest that every founder should be cognizant of when it is time to step down and allow others to run more of the show, and Kemper paints Kamen as no exception to this. The book illustrates how Kamen?s micro-management may have caused the project to take longer and cost more than it may have needed to. It also shows how Kamen?s belief in Ginger along with his charm and salesmanship may be what ended up making Segway a success in the end.

The book?s only shortfall comes from Kemper?s expulsion just prior to the Segway?s announcement and launch. Due to his loss of access to the project?s participants at this point, we are prevented from hearing reflections and thus being able to evaluate the success of the project?s culture and management style. Hopefully others from the Segway team will choose to codify their commentary on their experience at some point.

Code Name Ginger will allow you to understand what goes on from idea to creation. It would be difficult not to be drawn in to the engineer?s & manager?s struggle to overcome obstacles to bring the Segway to fruition. It is a look inside the whirlwind ?


Ginger a great insight into process and turmoil   July 31, 2003
5 out of 5 found this review helpful

"Ginger" is a terrific insight into the real day to day process of innovation. It appears that it doesnt come easily.
Great things never do.
The book makes you feel like you are along for the ride.
You feel the frustrations and embrace the challenges the team encoutered along the path to innovation(I am a Segway owner and have met Dean).
I think Dean has nothing to be embarassed about with this book. It exposes his incredible talent,humanity,kindness,and unwillingness to fail. It showcases his ability to pick the right people-most of the time....and build a great team.
He still is truly amazing in my book.
It has given me new respect for just how hard it was to bring this kind of innovation to market.
I just wish the process of following it didnt end where it did.
A great read ...left me wanting more.


aka Code Name Great Read   June 30, 2003
Brian Navis (Glendale, CA)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful

I've always admired Kamen and his work. To get this up close, and personal view was a real treat. Kemper captured the people and the process in a way that made the book very compelling reading. His "fly-on-the-wall" perspective was fantastic. The meetings (especially the one described in chapter 15) are painfully familiar and funny. The same is true for the interactions between engineers and marketers. Great read!


terrific book, even if you are not a techie   July 9, 2003
Northwoods (Montana)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful

I am only half way into this book, but I have to recommend it. It makes me want to run right out and buy the Segway to become part of the new world order. (Only trouble is, the thing is too expensive.) But reading about its creator is exhilarating, and it manages to be a page-turner inspite of the fact that it is "real world". If you know an inventor or wish you were one, this entertaining book can give you a flavor for the life of the real thing.