Review: The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind

William Kamkwambe was a school drop out – not because he was lacking in intelligence, but because his family could not afford school fees during a time of famine. Even though the family made it through the famine, they still could not afford to send William to school.

So, how did young William spend his time when he wasn’t helping his father on the family farm? He spent a lot of it at the Wimbe Primary School Library. There were books on English, history, science, and secondary texts from Zambia and Zimbabwe, and novels. At first he chose books on subjects similar to those his friends were studying in school so that he could keep up and hopefully re-join them when his parents could afford the fees. But then one day he came across a fascinating book entitled: Malawi Integrated Junior Science. Then, continuing to pursue his interests, he finally came to a book called Explaining Physics  and through chapters in this book on hydro electricity and magnetism he came up with the idea of building a windmill to generate electricity.

The remainder of the book details how he went about this, using just basic scrap metal, old motors and engine parts. He was greatly misunderstood but kept pursuing his objective and eventually was recognised in the world of science for his amazing achievement.

This is a truly inspiring story, and one all aspiring wannabes should read!

For information about William and more links go here. Click here if you would like to browse inside the book. Links to purchase are on the left-hand side.


William Kamkwambe addressing the 2009 TED (Technology, Entertainment and Design) Conference.