Edison's Concrete Piano: Flying Tanks, Six-Nippled Sheep, Walk-on-Water Shoes, and 12 Other Flops from Great Inventors

by Judy Wearing

Overview

Not even geniuses get it right the first time . . . An “entertaining” look at the failures of great inventors (Booklist)

From Alexander Graham Bell’s multi-nippled sheep to Leonardo da Vinci’s walk-on-water shoes, these ludicrous ideas and faulty designs will leave you with a smile on your face, and the reminder that even the very best of us make mistakes

To achieve great things, you have to be willing to take risks — and as Edison’s Concrete Piano reveals, some of the most famous names in history experienced plenty of flops and face-plants in the course of their careers. Thomas Edison, for example, not only revolutionized the world with the light bulb, but also designed a concrete piano, a nonoperational helicopter made from box kites and piano wire, and a machine to speak to the dead. Alexander Graham Bell, inventor of the telephone, actually devoted most of his time to his sheep farm in Nova Scotia — devising a multi-nippled sheep somewhere along the way. You’ll also read about Leonardo da Vinci’s walk-on-water shoes, George Washington Carver’s miracle peanut cure, and much more. The ludicrous ideas, faulty designs, and offbeat hobbies in this volume will inspire laughs — and serve as a reminder that even the very best minds make mistakes.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781550228632
Publisher:	ECW Press
Publication date:	10/31/2009
Pages:	272
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.40(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Judy Wearing is an award-winning educator and author with a PhD in biology from Oxford University. She works as a science education consultant and develops activities and books for children. This is her first popular science book. She lives in Newburgh, Ontario.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments 11

Introduction Great Inventors and Failure 13

The Historic Age

Understand Physics 21

Leonarde da Vinci's Walk-on-Water Shoes: (1452-1519)

Start With a Good Idea 37

James Watt's Apparatus for Administering Medicinal Airs: (1736-1819)

Write it Down 49

Robert Hooke's Flying Machine Powered by Artificial Muscle: (1635-1703)

The Golden Age

Give People What They Want 73

Thomas Edison's Concrete Piano: (1847-1931)

Try not to be Too Weird 93

Nikola Tesla's Earthquake Machine: 1856-1943)

Don't kill Your Customers 109

Henry Ford's Flipping Fordson: (1863-1947)

Be on the Side of the Successful 123

George Washington Carver's Miracle Peanut Cure: (1864-1947)

Be Sure the Market is Ready 133

Alexander Graham Bell's Six-Nippled Sheep: (1847-1922)

Have Adequate Funding 145

Elihu Thomson's Quartz Telescope Mirror: (1853-1937)

The Modern Era

Pay Attention to Details 157

Danny Willis Paint Can Robot: (1956-)

Be Agreeable 167

J. Walter Christie's Flying Tank: (1865-1944)

Make Sure You Aren't the Only One Who Thinks It's a Good Idea 183

George Davison's Popcorn Volcano: (1963-)

Please the Buyers and the Sellers 191

Jerome Lemelson's Flying Balloon: (1922-1997)

Stick to What Know, Mostly 203

Stanley Mason's Chinese Tallow Tree Plantation: (1921-2005)

Avoid Accidents 213

Buckminster Fuller's Fish-Shaped People Carrier: (1895-1983)

Have Perfect Timing 229

Leo Szilard and Albert Einstein's Howling Refrigerator: (1898-1964 and 1879-1955)

Endnotes 241

What People are Saying About This

Henry Petroski

Judy Wearing has written a captivating book on success and failure. . . . This book is full of lessons for inventors and non-inventors alike. (Henry Petroski, author, Success through Failure )

From the Publisher

"[Wearing's] background as a science educator is advantageous in this entertaining piece of popular science: she portrays lively personalities and eccentric projects in concrete prose."  —Booklist

"Best Book Title of the Year?: The popular science is fun and easily accessible, and there's more to the inventor's experiments than the title can contain."  —

Los Angeles Times Jacket Copy

"This book sparkles with heaps of ideas, some plain bonkers, others, like the car, more pedestrian. . . . This book is fun and full of quirks . . . a fine yarn."  —Waikato Times

"Judy Wearing has written a captivating book on success and failure . . . This book is full of lessons for inventors and non-inventors alike."  —Henry Petroski, author, Success through Failure

Editorial Reviews

This book sparkles with heaps of ideas, some plain bonkers, others, like the car, more pedestrian.…this book is fun and full of quirks…a fine yarn.” — The Waikato Times

“The popular science is fun and easily accessible, and there’s more to the inventors experiments than the title can contain.” — Los Angeles Times

“[Wearing’s] background as a science educator is advantageous in this entertaining piece of popular science: she portrays lively personalities and eccentric projects in concrete prose.” — Booklist

“Captivating … This book is full of lessons for inventors and non-inventors alike.” — Henry Petroski, author of Success through Failure

From the Publisher

[Wearing's] background as a science educator is advantageous in this entertaining piece of popular science: she portrays lively personalities and eccentric projects in concrete prose.

Booklist