- Hardcover: 196 pages
- Publisher: The Lyons Press; First edition (Mar 1 2000)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1558217401
- ISBN-13: 978-1558217409
- Product Dimensions: 18.8 x 12.2 x 2.3 cm
- Shipping Weight: 272 g
- Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
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Product Details |
Product Description
Review
"An ideal introduction to the world of inventors and their inventions."
--Booklist
--Booklist
"Lindsay's writing is excellent and often delightfully humorous."
--Library Journal
--This text refers to the
Paperback
edition.
--Library Journal
Book Description
David Lindsay tours the typical American home, stopping in each room to examine the most taken-for-granted objects, and finds incredible stories behind even the most-overlooked items.
In perhaps the most ignored room, the bathroom, he finds that Thomas Crapper did not in fact invent the flushable toilet, even though we've adopted both a verb and a noun from his name; that toothpaste, thankfully, finally replaced urine as a cleanser; that the inventor of Vaseline ate a spoonful of the stuff every day; and that (oddly) Germany ceded the brand name aspirin to the Allies as reparations for World War I.
In the foyer we find the histories of the intercom and mailbox; in the kitchen we learn that the microwave oven came about because a chocolate bar melted in Percy Spencer's pocket as he walked by radar equipment. The office yields the mysteries behind pencils and ballpoint pens; Scotch tape and Post-its; and why the typewriter keyboard is organized as it is (hint: type the word typewriter). In the garage we rejoice over the genius of the standard screw thread, in the den we play with the Yo-Yo, and in the bedroom we unravel blue jeans, zippers, brassieres, and even condoms (first conceived by Gabriele Fallopia, he of the well-known-tubes fame). From the exploits of Clarence Birdseye (frozen food) to the ambitious schemes of Peter Cooper (gelatin dessert), from the absurdity of the Slinky to the complexity of the exercise machine, here are the most fascinating stories in the obsessive history of invention.
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Most helpful customer reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good Book!,
By A Customer
This review is from: House of Invention: The Secret Life of Everyday Objects (Paperback)
This is an interesting collection of essays on the origins of many common household items.Some of these essays stray off the point a bit. I'm still not clear as to how the Nautillus exercise machine, or shatterproof glasses, or the electrical outlet were invented. But all-in-all, this book was informative as well as easy and fun to read. In addition to (or, in a few cases, instead of) just an account of how something was invented, it tells you some interesting (and sometimes disturbing) details of the lives of various inventors. I haven't read Charles Panati's "Extraordinary Origins of Everyday Things" (which some reviewers think is better than "House of Invention"). Perhaps that one might be worth a look too. In any case, I recommend Mr. Lindsay's book as well.
3.0 out of 5 stars
THE MOTHER OF ALL INVENTIONS?,
By
This review is from: House of Invention: The Extraordinary Evolution of Everyday Objects (Hardcover)
Here's a fun way to bust out of the doldrums and learn about the really important things in life. Author David Lindsay has stuck his nose (and eyes and feet and Lord-knows-what-else) to find the truth behind the origins of those things we take for granted. Like Vaseline. It was first marketed as a medicine, Doris Day slathers the stuff on her nightly (let's face it, her skin is oh-so-soft) and its inventor ate a spoonful of the stuff every day...and lived to his 90s. Like the intermittent windshield wiper. It was invented by a man who was hit in the eye with a champagne cork on his wedding night, causing permanent damage. (All that squinting in rainy weather.) Like the brassiere. The over-the-shoulder boulder holder was invented by the very first Girl Scout of America as an alternative to the restrictive corsets of the late 19th-century. Now, really, would we make this stuff up?ONS
2.0 out of 5 stars
History of Technology Lite,
By
This review is from: House of Invention: The Extraordinary Evolution of Everyday Objects (Hardcover)
There's nothing actively wrong with this book . . . Lindsay gets his facts straight, he has a gift for brief, deft sketches of colorful people, and the 21 short essays that make up the book are pleasant-enough reading. It works well in situations (the bathroom, the carpool line at your kid's school) where reading opportunities come regularly but in small chunks. Lindsay is at his best when he's doing the small-but-important inventions: the brown paper bag, breakfast cereal, the bra, and so forth. Let loose in the big time (television, alternating current), his storytelling goes flat . . . perhaps because of the need to compress so much information into a few pages. Because most of the inventions he covers *are* small, however, the flatness never lasts for long. I never put the book down unhappy.Why, then, only two stars? Because Charles Panati's _Extraordinary Origins of Everyday Things_ is just as much fun and far more comprehensive. Because James Burke's books, such as<_The Knowledge Web_ and _Circles_, are more audaciously conceived and have a better sense of history. Because Henry Petroski's _The Evolution of Useful Things_ tells the inventors' stories <i>and</i> analyzes the process of invention. Why bother with hamburger--even really good hamburger--if you can get steak for the same price?
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