Impossible Inventions

Reviews / Votes

This quirky but oddly compelling compendium of contraptions will make a lovely leisure-reading addition to STEM collections. Though not intended for research--no notes, no sources--it's still informative and very entertaining. Twenty-eight ingenious projects that actually worked, even if only in theory, or even if only once (including a couple that imploded upon debut), are presented in four-page spreads. Brief, breezy narratives cover basic background information, historical context, and public reaction. The most fascinating features, however, are the detailed, captioned drawings with cutaways and arrows that show the step-by-step mechanics behind several creations. Add cheeky cartoon spreads of each gizmo's imagined first public appearance, in appropriate time and place, including onlookers' sometimes amazed but usually unimpressed and rather irreverent commentary, and middle-grade readers should be hooked. The audience won't be limited to tech nerds. There's plenty in here to attract browsers, whether to soak up some historical trivia, be inspired by resourceful visionaries, or pore over the pictures.--Booklist


-- "Journal" (1/30/2018 12:00:00 AM) Descriptions of over three dozen historical inventions--a few of which, at least, have turned out to be not as harebrained as they may seem at first glance. Pride of place goes, of course, to Leonardo da Vinci, though other eccentric visionaries such as Heron of Alexandria (a mysteriously self-opening door) and Nikola Tesla (planetwide wireless electric power) earn nods. Along with a squadron of vehicles that would (supposedly) fly or float into the air, the authors present a variety of ancient timepieces, including one that used scents, oddball vehicles driven by steam, a device that sorts small candies by color, the once-renowned chess-playing (fake) automaton known as the 'Mechanical Turk, ' an LP record made of ice, a flatulence deodorizer, and like oddities. Nearly all of these saw at least experimental models--though, in the case of Leonardo's ornithopter, not until 2010. The entries are arranged in no particular order. Most come with labeled schematic illustrations of the invention and, on the following pages, a broader cityscape or other scene featuring witnesses offering humorous comments or critical observations ('We forgot to add brakes!'). Human figures are all caricatures, European of features except for one group of Chinese. An amiable ramble past some of the quirkier highlights in the history of invention.--Kirkus Reviews

-- "Journal" (11/22/2017 12:00:00 AM)