Academics are letting Africa down. With all that we know, what do we have to show for it? Whose lives have been changed for the better by it? What have we done for and with our communities lately? In this provocative book-the first in a trilogy-Clapperton Chakanetsa Mavhunga argues that our critical thinkers must become actual thinker-doers. Taking its title from one. of Thomas Sankara's most inspirational speeches, Dare to Invent the Future looks for moments in Africa's story where precedents of critical thought and knowledge in service of problem-solving are evident to inspire readers to dare to invent such a knowledge system. Mavhunga revisits insights from Edward Wilmot Blyden, Booker T. Washington, Aimé Césaire, Frantz Fanon, Amilcar Cabral, Julius Nyerere, and Thomas Sankara to illustrate how the academic disciplines have been, and could be, deployed in the service of and through problem-solving, building on what people are doing and know. At its core, he writes, knowledge in the service of and through problem-solving derives from reading the past for new questions, doing due diligence in the present, and contriving an anticipatory approach toward the future. Clapperton Chakanetsa Mavhunga is Professor of Science, Technology, and Society at MIT. He is the author of The Mobile Workshop and Transient Workspaces and the editor of What Do Science, Technology, and Innovation Mean from Africa? (all published by MIT Press). He is also the founding director of Nyamudira Hills Research Design Build (RDB), a catalytic space that provides science and engineering support to rural communities in Zimbabwe and the African continent.