White Elephant Technology
50 Crazy Inventions That Should Never Have Been Built, And What We Can Learn From Them
Published on 17. August 2023
208 pages
978-1-80399-494-9 (ISBN)
Description
What exactly is White Elephant Technology?
White Elephant Technology is any unusual invention past or present that fails in the marketplace despite its innovative nature. From jeeps that fly to tanks that shouldn't; from a wave-powered boat that took over three months to reach its destination to a jet-powered train that shook itself apart, White Elephant Technology showcases each inventor's talent for creating something nobody asked for. Importantly, none of these inventions are speculative. Each one was built, field tested and worked more or less as planned (except when it killed its creator).
Although success is highly prized, failure has a lot to teach us, especially when you realise it's the rule and not the exception. Still, no one has undertaken a survey of failed inventions despite history being littered with them ... until now. White Elephant Technology corrects this oversight in an entertaining, respectful and occasionally humorous manner, proving that failure is not only as fascinating as success but is also the purest expression of the human condition.
White Elephant Technology is any unusual invention past or present that fails in the marketplace despite its innovative nature. From jeeps that fly to tanks that shouldn't; from a wave-powered boat that took over three months to reach its destination to a jet-powered train that shook itself apart, White Elephant Technology showcases each inventor's talent for creating something nobody asked for. Importantly, none of these inventions are speculative. Each one was built, field tested and worked more or less as planned (except when it killed its creator).
Although success is highly prized, failure has a lot to teach us, especially when you realise it's the rule and not the exception. Still, no one has undertaken a survey of failed inventions despite history being littered with them ... until now. White Elephant Technology corrects this oversight in an entertaining, respectful and occasionally humorous manner, proving that failure is not only as fascinating as success but is also the purest expression of the human condition.
Reviews / Votes
'I read this book and loved it! There were so many inventions I'd never heard of. I only wish I'd read it before I started my museum.' -- Dr Samuel West, Founder, Museum of Failure 'White Elephant Technology is a fascinating look at the wild, wacky, and downright weird contraptions concocted by inventors who couldn't leave well enough alone. Flying tanks, flying bikes, flying cars, swimming cars, train-planes, plane-trains, even a rail Zeppelin. They're dissected with a wit so dry you can almost hear the hapless tinkerers as they utter "Back to the drawing board".' -- Stuart Elliot, former <i>New York Times</i> columnistMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
Stroud
United Kingdom
Illustrations
133 Illustrations, black and white
File size
30,08 MB
ISBN-13
978-1-80399-494-9 (9781803994949)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
John J. Geoghegan | Eric Miles
White Elephant Technology
50 Crazy Inventions That Should Never Have Been Built, And What We Can Learn From Them
Book
08/2023
The History Press Ltd
€40.50
Shipment within 3-4 weeks
Persons
JOHN J. GEOGHEGAN is a journalist, author, and editor who specializes in reporting on White Elephant Technology. His articles have appeared in the New York Times Science section, WIRED, Popular Science, and the Smithsonian's Air & Space magazine, and he has featured in a number of interviews and documentaries. He has previously written When Giants Ruled the Sky for The History Press, and Operation Storm: Japan's Top Secret Submarines and Their Plan to Change the Course of WWII (Crown, 2013), both on WETech inventions. He lives in California.
Content
- Intro
- Title
- Copyright
- Contents
- Introduction
- 1 Hybrids: Making a Boat a Plane
- The Swimming Tank
- Underwater Aircraft Carriers
- Cromwell Dixon's Sky-Cycle
- The Amphicar
- Flying Aircraft Carriers
- 2 Why Some Things Shouldn't Fly
- The Flying Tank
- The Aerial Rowboat
- The Flying Submarine
- The Hafner Rotabuggy
- The Perkins Man-Carrying Kite
- 3 Inventive Deaths
- Franz Reichelt and His Wearable Parachute
- Henry Smolinski and His Flying Car
- Alberto Santos-Dumont and the Dream of Flight
- 'Mad' Mike Hughes and His Flat Earth Rocket
- Thomas Midgley and His Ambulatory Device
- 4 Freezing Your Ass Off: Exploring Harsh Environments
- LeTourneau's Sno-Freighter and Sno-Train
- The Rhino
- Cosmonaut Recovery Vehicles
- Polar Cars and Motorised Sleighs
- Admiral Byrd's Antarctic Snow Cruiser
- LeTourneau's Overland Train Mark II
- Desert-Crossing Vehicles
- 5 All Things Atomic!
- Atomic-Powered Aeroplanes
- Atomic Lighthouses
- The Atomic Tank
- The NS Savannah
- The Mini Atomic Crawler
- The Atomic Cannon
- The Davy Crockett Nuclear 'Mortar'
- 6 Failures vs Frauds
- Dr Moller and the Moller Skycar
- The Cooley Air-Ship
- Abner Doble's Model E
- The Besler Brothers and Their Steam-Powered Aeroplane
- 7 Getting There is Half the Fun
- Propeller-Driven Cars
- Propeller-Driven Snowmobiles
- Propeller-Driven Trains
- Hover Trains
- Jet Trains
- 8 Things That Don't Need Improving
- Sailboats
- Bicycles
- Submarines
- Cargo Ships
- Lawn Mowers
- Motorcycles Part I
- Motorcycles Part II - Monocycles
- Hugo Gernsback: The Office Isolator and Teleyeglasses
- 9 The Elephants' Graveyard
- The Caspian Sea Monster
- 10 Just Around the Corner: The Future of WETech
- About the Authors
- Bibliography
