Entertaining for a coffee table, doctor's office, that other place I won't mention here... :)

books:


	• Book of Inventions (National Geographic) Ian Harrison National Geographic, 2004 - 288 pages average customer review:based on 4 reviews view larger image
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Entertaining for a coffee table, doctor's office, that other place I won't mention here... :)

... just don't expect much from this book. It is rather eclectic. Of course any such book is doomed to be incomplete, but some of the authors/editors' choices are interesting... Definitely not for "historians" or "academicians", sorry, Joseph :) Fine for kids (fear not that Liz Hurley picture, nothing too scary there) and curious adults.

Book of Inventions by Harrison

This National Geographic rendition contains details of critical
inventions over the past millenia. It is perfect for a student
science project in grammar or high school. For instance, typical
inventions depicted and described include:
- the alarm clock invented in Wurzburg , Germany 1350-80
- the permwave by Nessler of Germany
- cereal flakes by Kellogg in 1894
- the new tetrahedron milk carton in 1943
- the 1902 Carrier Air Conditioner 30-ton unit
- the 1867 patent for a big wheel

The presentation is complete, priced reasonably and easy to
read for students, scientists, historians and a wide constituency
of academicians everywhere.

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Seemingly ok in the factual sense but...

Harrison is wrong to a degree when he talks about man being a pathological killer in the gun section of the book. The Gatling gun was invented by a man who was trying to end warfare (he was hoping the gun would be so scarily lethal that no one would want to go to war) yet no mention of Gatling's noble motive was made by Harrison. Also, how many people only carried, or even invented new forms of, guns to defend themselves against bears or wolves or hyenas etc. You know back in the 1800's many people (even those who lived in towns) had to put with occasional bear attacks and unwelcomed ursine visits and there were no tranquilizer guns in those days (unlike today) so to get a bear rendered harmless you had usually to shoot with bullets. Harrison your generalization on gunmakers was mean or clueless. But wrong either way.

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This extremely lively-and intricately researched-book is a rousing romp through the history of inventions and their inventors through time, from the tiny paperclip-coined "the world's most valuable invention"-to the massive jet engine; from mastermind Leonardo DaVinci, to quirky, colorful, dual-cyclone-vacuum-cleaner inventor James Dyson. It could be called an "Encyclopedia of Inventions," but it feels like too much fun for this kind of appellation. Far from a stodgy compendium, this book provides the dates, details, and stories of how some of the most interesting and useful objects have been invented through time, presented in a colorful retro format and with a lively sense of humor. It fills a much-needed niche in the series of National Geographic reference books: consider it the pause that refreshes. The information is as equally authoritative as our other reference titles, but in this title you get another angle on the technical stuff-heavy on history and anecdote that accompanies the science of invention. Nine chapters are divided thematically and reveal how gadgets and gizmos have affected all aspects of our daily lives. They are: Around the House, In the Office, At the Doctor's, Getting Around, Cutting Edge, Eating and Drinking, Spare Time, Inventions Without Wings, and Patent Numbers. Entries include objects as diverse as the disposable diaper, zipper, hair dryer, photocopier, artificial heart, disposable syringe, intelligence test, hub gears, collapsible scooters for the handicapped, beta blockers, Viagrar, and the traffic light. The subjects covered range from the absurd to the life-saving, from the high-tech based on years of research and testing to the accident. The Post-it note, a product of the genius of Arthur Fry in 1974, was the lemonade of a failed attempt at making a strong glue. Fry succeeded in making a glue that didn't stick, and an invention that did. Percy Shaw's 1930s invention of road safety reflectors, called cat's eyes, was the product of a late night drive in Halifax where he was alerted to his veering off the road by the reflection of his headlights in a cat's eyes. The book's compelling and colorful layout-which mixes fun facts called "did you know", timelines, and photographs-offers a discrete entry with each spread, breaking down the scores of information into bite-sized bits for easy digestion. This reference book succeeds in making learning entertaining and fun.

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