The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind
is the true story of a teenager growing up in rural Malawi, unable to go to school because his family cannot pay the required fees, starving because of drought and a bad harvest, who borrows old books from the local library and scavenges part to build a windmill that brings electricity and some prosperity (and, happiness, a chance for him to resume his education). Each chapter starts with a hand-drawn sketch by the author of the windmill in progress.
A great description of how engineers can change the world — and how local engineers can think of ideas that are much better adapted to the local needs than the ones thought up in the rich world.
