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Imagination And A Pile Of JunkStock informationGeneral Fields
Special Fields
DescriptionA celebration of the extraordinary people who created the modern world, spiced with anecdotes and wit. Trevor Norton, who has been compared to Gerard Durrell and Bill Bryson, weaves an entertaining history with a seductive mix of eureka moments, disasters and dirty tricks. Although inventors were often scientists or engineers, many were not: Samuel Morse (Morse code) was a painter, Lazlow Biro (ballpoint) was a sculptor and hypnotist, and Logie Baird (TV) sold boot polish. The inventor of the automatic telephone switchboard was an undertaker who believed the operator was diverting his calls to rival morticians so he decided to make all telephone operators redundant. Inventors are mavericks indifferent to conventional wisdom so critics were dismissive of even their best ideas: radio had 'no future,' electric light was 'an idiotic idea' and X-rays were 'a hoax.' Even so, the state of New Jersey moved to ban X-ray opera glasses. The head of the General Post Office rejected telephones as unneccesary as there were 'plenty of small boys to run messages.' Some inventions were almost stillborn; the first vacuum cleaner was horse drawn on a cart. Promotion infoA droll history of inventors and inventions Author descriptionTrevor Norton is an Emeritus Professor at the University of Liverpool, having retired from the Chair of Marine Biology. He has published widely on ecological topics. He is also an Honorary Senior Fellow at the Centre for Manx Studies on the Isle of Man where he lives. His much acclaimed books include Stars Beneath the Sea, Reflections on a Summer Sea and Under Water to Get out of the Rain. |