Ray Kurzweil has been named one of 16 “revolutionaries” by PBS in its upcoming PBS television series, “Who made America,” joining Alexander Graham Bell, Thomas Edison, Wilbur and Orville Wright, and other major American inventors.

“American history is filled with the stories of influential innovators, whose ideas and entrepreneurial spirit gave birth to commercial milestones like the steamboat and cultural touchstones like the Barbie doll,” says the PBS program description.

“A prodigy from Queens created hardware and software to help blind people read and musicians make music,” notes PBS. “His inventions, writings, and influential thinking have explored and exploited technology in many ways, and helped shape ongoing work in artificial intelligence.”

Kurzweil is also profiled in the book of the same title by Harold Evans, published by Little, Brown and Company, October 2004.