Imagination and a Pile of Junk: A Droll History of Inventors and Inventions

Author: Trevor Norton Format: Hardback Number of Pages: Although inventors were often scientists or engineers, many were not: Samuel Morse (Morse code) was a painter, Laszlo Biro (the ballpoint pen) was a sculptor and hypnotist, and Logie Baird (TV) sold boot polish. The inventor of the automatic telephone switchboard was an undertaker who believed the exchange operator was diverting his calls to rival morticians and so decided to make all telephone operators redundant. Inventors are mavericks so indifferent to conventional...Read more