A Dyson vacuum
It took James Dyson 5,127 tries to get the technology for his bagless vacuum cleaner right. So don't blame him for rolling out a string of models equipped with his well-honed engineering. The newest addition is Slim, above, a version that has a pivoting ball on the bottom for maneuverability. But the invention that Dyson, 59, seems most excited about these days is an engineering high school scheduled to open in Bath, England, in 2009. Dyson's foundation put up $25 million for the school—which the government matched.