Chester Carlson was determined to invent an easy, inexpensive method of copying documents. In 1938, he invented the process of "electrophotography," which later became known as "xerography." He would work for more than 20 years in partnership (a royalty agreement) with both the Battelle Institute and the Haloid Company (which would later become the Xerox Company) to develop the first automatic, plain paper copier. Despite years of failure (one machine required 39 steps to make a copy; another machine caught fire each time a copy was made; the machines were so large no one could move them; and the early models were so expensive, no one could afford them), Carlson refused to give up. He kept on going long after any reasonable person would have quit. Though he was offered employment, he never worked for either the Battelle Corporation, nor Haloid Xerox. In fact, he spent most of his years in poverty. When the Xerox Model 914 was finally introduced in 1959 and became a success, Carlson became a multimillionaire. But he was never particularly interested in money and gave most of it away before he died in 1968. Catherine Carlson, Chester"s wife"s adopted daughter, supplied both photographs and insight into this story never told before for the young adult reader.