When William Kamkwamba was 14, Malawi suffered a severe famine. His family could no longer pay his school fees, and he was forced to drop out of high school. While staying home, Kamkwamba remained curious and inventive and worked with the village librarian to stay engaged with his studies, especially science. Working from just a photo in a U.S. junior high school textbook book called Using Energy, he reasoned out how to build a windmill that could produce electricity from spare parts and scrap, despite having no instructions.
Kamkwamba's inspiring story is told in this New York Times bestselling memoir The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, co-authored with Bryan Mealer, and in the Netflix film...