Man of the Year

SEVEN WHO SUCCEEDED FROM A SULLEN SLUM TO THE FRONTIERS OF TECHNOLOGY, THESE NEW PIONEERS TYPIFY A SPIRIT IN THE BEST AMERICAN TRADITION: INVENTIVE, . BOLD, RESOLUTE, EAGER TO OVERCOME THE CHALLENGES THAT CONFRONT THEM. SOME HAVE BECOME WEALTHY; OTHERS FIND SATISFACTION IN A MISSION ACCOMPLISHED.

Perhaps it is all as simple as that old tale about Christopher Columbus and the egg. The explorer was being mocked at a dinner by a courtier who declared that Spain was full of mariners as bold and adventurous as he. If Columbus had not discovered the new route to the Indies, said the courtier,...