""[A] compelling account of Nakamura’s story, packed with salutary lessons for would-be Edisons.” —Financial Times “[Nakamura] is clearly a great subject for an engaging book, and author Bob Johnstone does not disappoint…he weaves a lucid, captivating narrative around Nakamura’s struggles to achieve his luminous dream…Johnstone offers readers much more than a Nakamura biography, for this is also an insightful first look at several key players in a solid-state lighting industry that is already grossing more than $4 billion annually…Brilliant! is a superb introduction to this dramatic story of high technology in action, which continues to this day.” —IEEE Spectrum magazine “The longtime technology reporter…has a passion for uncovering the mysteries of abstruse material science that is unmatched in the popular science press. You don’t even have to understand every word he says to appreciate him… His newest book, Brilliant! . . . focuses the narrative on the man most responsible for the explosion in LED lighting that is currently sweeping the globe.” —Salon.com "How the World Works” column “[A]n impeccably researched, comprehensive history of the SSL [solid-state lighting] industry, whose products will revolutionize the way we see the world.” —Daily Yomiuri, Tokyo, Japan (one of Japan’s leading English-language newspapers)