Inventions That Could Have Changed the World...But Didn't! - Softcover

Rhatigan, Joe

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1623541018 ISBN 13: 9781623541019

Publisher: Charlesbridge, 2018

Synopsis

Dive into the US Patent Office's zaniest back-catalogue entries in this laugh-out-loud collection of wacky, weird, and unwieldy inventions! 

Why haven't we ever heard of the jumping balloon, the ejector bed, or the Portable Baby Cage? Some inventions were too off-putting. Others simply didn’t work, though they laid the foundation for greater successes down the line (here's looking at you, Mr. Henry Ford). And still others may be the next big thing . . . some day. Learn about the inventors, what they thought they would build, and what—if anything—they actually accomplished. Zany illustrations of the contraptions in use throughout.

About this title

About the Author

Joe Rhatigan is a well-respected editor and author, and has written many bestselling books, including the acclaimed White House Kids: The Perks, Pleasures, Problems and Pratfalls of the Presidents' Children, People You Gotta Meet Before You Grow Up, Don't Unravel When You Travel, and many more. He lives in Asheville, North Carolina.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Take a look around you and try to count the number of inventions you see. Everything from the light you’re using to read this book to the machines used to create this book was invented by someone who saw a problem and found a creative way to solve it. That’s what inventions are: solutions to problems.
            Some of these solutions have changed the world in fascinating ways. Before lightbulbs, people went to bed when it got dark outside. (There was nothing else to do.) Before the printing press, only a very few people had access to books. The very best inventions make you wonder how people ever lived without them.
            There are a lot of great books about these incredible inventions and the fascinating people who made them. But this book has something else on its mind: What about the inventions that didn’t change the world?
            The world is bursting with ideas. Unfortunately, not all of these ideas are good. For every amazing invention, there are thousands that are never produced, arrive too soon or too late to be of any use, or simply don’t work. Some are too impractical, silly, or unwieldy. Others may be the next big thing . . . someday. In many ways, these flops can be just as fascinating as lightbulbs, cars, computers, and smartphones. Wacky, weird, wonderful, or just plain wrong, these are the inventions included in this book.
            In some sense, you can say this book is about failure, but it’s a kind of failure worth celebrating. The human race can’t move forward without trying and sometimes not succeeding. Without these inventions that didn’t work out, we probably wouldn’t have the ones that did. So this book celebrates the flops and also-rans—the inventions that could have changed the world, should have made a difference, or would have astounded us all, but for one reason or another didn’t.

Edition details

• Publisher: Charlesbridge
• Publication date: 2018
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1623541018
• ISBN 13: 9781623541019
• Binding: Paperback
• Illustrator: Owsley Anthony
• Number of pages: 80