In the past three centuries the ship has developed from the relatively unsophisticated sail-driven vessel to the huge motor-driven container ships, nuclear submarines, and vast cruise liners that ply our seas today. This book describes the lives and achievements of more than 120 great engineers, scientists, philosophers, businessmen, shipwrights, naval architects, and inventors who shaped ship design and shipbuilding worldwide. All these innovators are presented in context so that a clear and fascinating history of the development of ships and shipbuilding emerges.