It Looked Good on Paper: Bizarre Inventions, Design Disasters, and Engineering Follies
Language: English
Published by HarperCollins Publishers Inc, 2009
- Softcover
- Used
Seller: World of Books (was SecondSale), Montgomery, IL, U.S.A.World of Books (was SecondSale)
AbeBooks seller since December 20, 2007
Condition: Used - Fair
£ 3.30
Quantity: 1 available
Add to basketItem description from seller
Gathered in this book is a collection of flawed plans, half baked ideas, and downright ridiculous machines that, with the best and most optimistic intentions, men have constructed throughout history. Included are such military, scientific, commercial, and infrastructure disasters as: The Lead water pipes of Rome; Tacoma Narrows Bridge Collapse; Edison's electrical folly; Betamax; Concorde crash; Hubble - A $2 billion telescope that didn't work; the Mars probe failures due to simple math mistakes; Cold Fusion; and, Ford Pinto. Some failed spectacularly, others fizzled after great expense, and one crashed on Mars. While this is a book about ideas and things men make that have failed, it is not a technical manual. Rather it is a fun collection that shows how an otherwise brilliant designer, scientist, architect, or doctor can often spend years or millions creating something that a few small bits of common sense would have prevented.
Seller Inventory # 00102450584
- Title
- It Looked Good on Paper: Bizarre Inventions, Design Disasters, and Engineering Follies
- Author
- Bill Fawcett
- Publisher
- HarperCollins Publishers Inc
- Publication year
- 2009
- Condition
- Fair
- Binding
- Paperback
- Language
- English
- ISBN 10
- 0061358436
- ISBN 13
- 9780061358432
A remarkable compendium of wild schemes, mad plans, crazy inventions, and truly glorious disasters
Every phenomenally bad idea seemed like a good idea to someone. How else can you explain the Ford Edsel or the sword pistol—absolutely absurd creations that should have never made it off the drawing board? It Looked Good on Paper gathers together the most flawed plans, half-baked ideas, and downright ridiculous machines throughout history that some second-rate Einstein decided to foist on an unsuspecting populace with the best and most optimistic intentions. Some failed spectacularly. Others fizzled after great expense. One even crashed on Mars. But every one of them at one time must have looked good on paper, including:
- The lead water pipes of Rome
- The Tacoma Narrows Bridge—built to collapse
- The Hubble telescope—the $2 billion scientific marvel that couldn't see
- The Spruce Goose—Howard Hughes's airborne atrocity: big, expensive, slow, unstable, and made of wood
With more than thirty-five chapters full of incredibly insipid inventions, both infamous and obscure, It Looked Good on Paper is a mind-boggling, endlessly entertaining collection of fascinating failures.
"Synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
About the Author
Bill Fawcett is the author and editor of more than a dozen books, including You Did What?, It Seemed Like a Good Idea . . . , How to Lose a Battle, and You Said What? He lives in Illinois.
"About the title" may belong to another edition of this title.
World of Books (was SecondSale)
Montgomery, IL, U.S.A.
AbeBooks seller since December 20, 2007
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Founded in 2002, World of Books is a leading online destination for buying and selling both preloved and new books, committed to making sustainable reading accessible to all. With a mission to help people read more and waste less, World of Books offers a huge range of affordable, high-quality books — giving both new and preloved titles a second life. The company also operates World of Books – Sell Your Books, an easy-to-use platform that allows customers to trade in unwanted books for cash, helping to keep books in circulation while promoting sustainability. As a Certified B Corp, World of Books is driven by a vision to become the world’s largest and most sustainable dedicated online bookstore. The company measures its success through the positive environmental impact it creates, the value it provides to customers, and its ability to operate profitably while supporting its sustainable mission …
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