No Title - Softcover

3.12

8 ratings by Goodreads

Softcover

ISBN 10: 159921573X ISBN 13: 9781599215730

Publisher: Globe Pequot Press, 2009

Truth is stranger than fiction, they say--and when it's a patent truth and strange to boot, why then, it's Patently Silly! Daniel Wright brings together, for the first time ever, the most outlandish patents issued by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Representing an incredible range of patents for inventions that strain the boundaries of imagination, taste, and any form of usefulness, they are by turns really weird, really cool, or really scary. And they are all just plain ridiculous. Each patent title--from the self-operating seesaw to the talking toilet-paper roller--is real, and the accompanying images are those submitted with the patent application. Inventions often undergo a long period of mockery before catching on. Patently Silly seeks to be the first to ridicule, so that this phase of an invention's life can end sooner. Then, hopefully, it will grow up and change the world.

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From the Back Cover:

Someone very wise once said, "Necessity is the mother of invention."Patently Silly asks, "Who is the father?" Building on the international reputation of the eponymous Web site Patently Silly is what you get when a stand-up comedian earns an engineering degree. Exploring the wackiest and most bizarre patented inventions ever envisioned, from the Cube-shaped Tennis Ball to the Talking Toilet Paper Roll Holder to the Pet-operated Ball Thrower, and straining the boundaries of imagination, good taste, and any form of usefulness, Patently Silly is a must-read for garage tinkerers, science geeks, and dreamers who believe that gravity is no impediment to flight.

About the Author:

Daniel Wright has a degree in engineering, has studied clowning and Commedia dell'Arte, and after several years with the award-winning puppet theater company, Tears of Joy, in Portland, Oregon, now works in New York City as a stand-up comedian. He has written articles for publications as diverse as PC Magazine and Golf Magazine.

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