An enlightening and fun look at scientific discoveries and the often wacky and accidental ways in which they have led to some of the most important inventions--by award-winning journalist Ira Flatow.
Yes, a working fax machine was developed in the early 19th century by an Italian priest. The microware oven came about because a chocolate bar melted in someone's pocket. The story behind these and others inventions are covered in this book by Ira Flatow, currently science anchor of NPR's Talk of the Nation Science Friday. What Mr. Flatow does in this book is show how inventing can be serentipitous and exciting. This book is not a dull treatise on the history of technology, but a fun journey through the history of familar inventions and their inventors. The prose is extremely readable as you might expect from someone who has hosted public radio and television programs on popular science topics. As the title connotes, many famous inventions were first received with ridicule. Such is the process of invention which is full of struggles and dead-ends that is usually necessary to achieve something significant (which is what Edison was trying to communicate with his famous quote about inspiration and persperation). If there is any weakness to this book it is the lack of depth, so the interested reader should seek out books that complement this one such as "Inventors at Work : Interviews With 16 Notable American Inventors" by Kenneth A. Brown for a perspective on active inventors and "Edison: Inventing the Century" by Neil Baldwin for an in-depth biography on the world famous inventor. Fans of televisions "Connections," "Invention," or "Newton's Apple" (which Ira Flatow wrote and hosted) are sure to like this book. Inventing is really about the application of science rather than the discovery of scientific principles, so those who prefer the latter might want to consider the writings of Jeremy Bernstein or James Gleick. All in all, "They All Laughed" is an excellent book.