History's Worst Inventions: And the People Who Made Them

by Eric Chaline

The people in this book set out to change the world with their brilliant new discovery or design. At best, they failed monumentally; at worse, they changed the world in ways for which no one will... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 143511177X
• ISBN13: 9781435111776
• Release Date: January 2009
• Publisher: Quid Publishing
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 1.50 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Tragical History Tour of Gone-Bad Inventions!

HISTORY'S WORST INVENTIONS AND THE PEOPLE WHO MADE THEM is an absorbing examination of 50-odd inventions which were supposed to change the world for the better. Yet, as documented by British author Eric Chaline, the actual results were usually unexpected and often disasterous. It makes for fascinating - and frightening - reading. The inventions discussed are quite a mixed bag: fast foods, gunpowder, Eugenics, arsenic, soda pop, steam-powered cars, internal-combustion engines, capital punishment, petroleum, DDT, Dianetics, platform shoes, Betamax, heroin, land mines, etc. The first invention covered is human-powered flight; the last, subprime mortgages. Most of the inventions rate a four-five page summary with accompanying photographs. Each entry features a sidebar listing the invention's Main Culprit(s), the Motivation for the invention and the Damage Done. It's interesting that the top two Motivations were 'Power and Glory' and 'Greed;' 'Scientific Inquiry' coming in third! A second sidebar assesses the invention's fate: Never Got Off the Ground, Didn't Work in Practice, Killed Its Inventor, A Commercial Failure, Unforesesn Complications, Was Used for Evil Ends and A Success Born of Failure. As appalling as some of the outcomes were, Chalice's text is as witty as it is informative. The Flying Car chapter, for example, is entitled 'Chitty Chitty Bang Crash.' The Land Mine chapter is entitled 'Tiptoe Through the Tulips.' When discussing Karaoke, Chalice maintains the damage done was "Crimes Against Music" and so on. In short, I found HISTORY'S WORST INVENTIONS AND THE PEOPLE WHO MADE THEM a great read. It takes a fresh and informative look at how far humanity has "progressed" and what that progress has cost. Highly recommended.