Edison's Concrete Piano: Flying Tanks, Six-Nippled Sheep, Walk-on-Water Shoes, and 12 Other Flops from Great Inventors

By: Judy Wearing

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Synopsis: Not even geniuses get it right the first time . . . An &“entertaining&” look at the failures of great inventors (Booklist). To achieve great things, you have to be willing to take risks—and as Edison&’s Concrete Piano reveals, some of the most famous names in history experienced plenty of flops and face-plants in the course of their careers. Thomas Edison, for example, not only revolutionized the world with the light bulb, but also designed a concrete piano, a nonoperational helicopter made from box kites and piano wire, and a machine to speak to the dead. Alexander Graham Bell, inventor of the telephone, actually devoted most of his time to his sheep farm in Nova Scotia—devising a multi-nippled sheep somewhere along the way. You&’ll also read about Leonardo da Vinci&’s walk-on-water shoes, George Washington Carver&’s miracle peanut cure, and much more. The ludicrous ideas, faulty designs, and offbeat hobbies in this volume will inspire laughs—and serve as a reminder that even the very best minds make mistakes. &“Captivating . . . This book is full of lessons for inventors and non-inventors alike.&” —Henry Petroski, author of Success through Failure