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ISBN-10: 1-55022-863-3
ISBN-13: 978-1-55022-863-2
5.5 x 8.25 in, 176pp, paperback
$17.95 CAD
October 2009
Price: $17.95
Edison’s Concrete Piano highlights the careers of famous inventors — revealing the lesser-known and most fascinating facts about their careers, their wackier hobbies, and especially their big flops and great successes. Take Thomas Edison for example, who revolutionized our world with the light bulb, the phonograph, and the forerunner to the movie camera. He also created a concrete piano, a non-operational helicopter made from box kites and piano wire, and a machine to speak to the dead. Edison was not the only one to engineer a complete flop now and again; in fact, failure amid greatness is the norm — not the exception.
Did you know that Henry Ford followed his Model T success with a tractor that was famous for killing its customers? Ever heard of a flying tank? Can you imagine why physics genius Albert Einstein created a refrigerator that howled like a banshee? Or what Nikola Tesla was thinking when he tested his earthquake machine — in crowded Manhattan? And how did Alexander Graham Bell, after inventing the phone, pass the time on his sheep farm in Nova Scotia?
From whole scale improvements, like the assembly line, to robots made from paint cans, Edison’s Concrete Piano covers it all. Written snapshots of inventors through the ages to the current day are accompanied by photographs and illustrations of their lives and their inventions. Read about Edison, Tesla, DaVinci, Fuller, and Alexander Graham Bell, alongside the inventors you’ve never considered — the people who are dreaming up many of the products you’ll use every day.
From Alexander Graham Bell’s six-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 a new perspective on the meaning of success.
I just finished reading
I just finished reading Edison's Concrete Piano: Flying Tanks, Six-Nippled Sheep, Walk-on-water Shoes, and 12 Other Flops From Great Inventors and I have to say that overall it was an interesting read.
The book is divided into 16 chapters that follow a similar pattern: establish the individual's credentials as a great thinker/inventor, describe the individual's "flop" of an idea, then analyze the flop in the context of modern knowledge.
While I was familiar with most of the names from the "Historic Age" and "Golden Age" sections, I still was able to pick up a few tidbits about those inventors' lives and achievements. I was not as familiar with many of the names from the "Modern Age", but Edison's Concrete Piano does a good job of providing background into who these inventors are and why they are worthy of consideration among the great minds listed in the book.
ECP is evidently a well researched book as evidenced by the 40 pages of references and numerous footnotes found throughout the pages. Wearing also does a good job of following up with current academics to analyze some of the flops presented in the book and determine the challenges faced by the inventor.
In the end, my only frustration with the book is that when establishing the credentials of some inventors, we only get a brief enumeration of the inventions and ideas that the individuals were responsible for. However, as the focus of the book is on the flops, the brief treatment of successes certainly does make sense. In the end, my frustration may end up being a strength of the book as it has driven my interest in the book's roster of inventors and makes me want to read more on the achievements and ideas that made all these people famous in the first place.
Overall, this book is a good (and relatively quick) read and definitely worth looking at for anyone with an interest in science.
Great
very nice post thanks!!!! i really like it
http://www.erreauk.com
From whole scale improvements, like the assembly line, to robots made from paint cans, Edison’s Concrete Piano covers it all. Written snapshots of inventors through the ages to the current day are accompanied by photographs and illustrations of their lives and their inventions. Read about Edison, Tesla, DaVinci, Fuller, and Alexander Graham Bell, alongside the inventors you’ve never considered — the people who are dreaming up many of the products you’ll use every day.
erreauk
inventpro
I am an avid independent inventor/tinkerer and love the history of America's innovative past and can't wait to read this book. But I had a question about who in the world George Davison was so I googled him on the web. It seems as though he didn't invent the HoverCreeper, but it was one of his employees. See the story I found below. It seems you may want to do some fact checking before the book goes to print. I'm still not sure if Mr. Davison is actually an inventor or just the owner of an invention marketing company.
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06215/710558-59.stm
thanks, inventpro - the book is right, our copy was wrong
Seems our descriptive copy of the book was erroneous. We checked in with the author of Edison's Concrete Piano Judy Wearing and she's helped us to clarify: Mr. Davison runs a business that helps others invent things. We'll change the on-site copy asap. Hope you enjoy the book!
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