Inventors and Their Bright Ideas

Horribly Famous

by Mike Goldsmith

You've probably heard of a few inventors and their bright ideas...Alexander Graham Bell and his telephone. George Stevenson and his Rocket (which was really a train). John Logie Baird and his television. But have you heard that...Bell didn't invent the phone, but he did make a weird machine out of hay and a human ear. Stevenson didn't invent the train, but he did spend a lot of time collecting gas in bladders. Baird's telly was useless, and so were his thermostatic socks? Yes, even though they're dead, inventors are still full of surprises. Everything you ever wanted to know about Inventors and their bright ideas.

Genres: Nonfiction, Science, History, Childrens, Humor, Comics, Historical

208 pages, Paperback

First published October 18, 2002

About the author

Dr. Mike Goldsmith studied the philosophy of time and space at Keele University, where he also obtained his PhD in astrophysics. He was formerly the head of Acoustics at the UK's National Physical Laboratory and is now an author of nonfiction books for children.

Reviews

[M]

Ugh. I can't believe I'm saying this about a Dead-Famous series book but, I thoroughly disliked this book. I mean come on! I've read quite a few of the Dead-Famous series books by Mike Goldsmith, and trust me, I did not expect him to write this bad.

I mean where is the humor? All the other books of this series had me gasping for breath but this one left me wishing I'd just sat down and done my maths homework to save myself the disappointment. There were a few feeble attempts humor which made me want to pity the author, not praise him.

The book still does give you a lot to learn and think about, but isn't that what every other science book in the world does? The reason the Dead-Famous series is Dead Popular is thanks to the fact that it gives us a spoonful of humor to help the facts go down, so that even ages after you've read the book and forgotten all the theories and formulas you can still think about that funny cartoon or that hilarious remark and have a few chuckles to yourself.

[Patrick]

An absolutely fantastic book that provides a succinct summary of the inventions that shaped modern civilisation. I think its a testament to the author that this is one of the few books from my childhood that I still like to re-read every now and then, just to brush up on my history of technology. I find the book exceptional for two primary reasons:
First, Mike Goldsmith has an unparalleled skill in simplifying complex physics principles in layman's terms, making it a markedly easy-to-read book.
Second, contextualising inventions with the human element behind those inventions is a severely understated learning tool. I've personally found that there's a noticeable difference in my eagerness to learn when the text provides references to why a certain piece of technology was needed in a certain historical period, what the inventor was trying to achieve, personally and professionally, and how exactly did he go about his process of invention.

[Adhrit Pradeep]

Inventors and their bright ideas by Dr. Mike Goldsmith genre series rating ⅗
I like this book because it is wonderful!

Inventors long gone, like Archimedes and da Vinci, help the world today with their ideas and inventions. But did you know that even though we think that John Logie Baird invented the television and Edison made a very successful light bulb, Baird’s tv was useless (what it was then) and Edison did not invent the first light bulb? Read this Horribly Famous book to find other lies and truths about useful inventions!

I recommend this book to all kids!

[Daniel Palička]

Čtenářská výzva na Goodreads 2018 (76/205)
Čtenářská výzva Lovci perel 2018 (Padesátá první kniha)
Tak “Velký závod” se v rámci série “Dobrodružství Rychlé Veverky” dost povedl! Jistě, jedná se sice pouze o docela obyčejnou povídku, kde jde pouze o jednu výhru v závodu, za kterou může vítěz obdržet jeden ryzí milion, ale bylo to dost zábavné a čtivé. Navíc, Čech si tentokrát dal s kresbou neskutečně velkou práci, což se na mnoha stránkách dost podepisuje!
4/5 (75%)

[Trinh Hieu]

great

[Yue]

It is funny, many times I was giggling, but it is also a very technical book, hence, a bit boring for me most of the parts.

[Petr Toman]

Zajímavé historiky o vynálezcích a jejich výtvorech. Hezky se to četlo.

[Bahjah]

This book is very interesting and funny!You have probably heard of a few inventers like : THOMAS EDISON AND HIS LIGHT BULB, Goerge Stephons and his train, John Logie Baird and his television ,ect.

Even though they are dead the are still famous great eh? So if you want to find out more about them, you know what to do...........................

[Guguk]

Lumayan berat dengan berbagai penjelasan ilmiah, tapi masih enak dicerna (´｡• ᵕ •｡`)

Dan yang penting, karena dibawakan dengan kocak jadi gak ngebosenin ^ ^

Ada dibahas beberapa penemu, kayak: Edison, Bell, Wright bersaudara, dan-masih-banyak-lagi; berikut berbagai 'petualangan' mereka sampai dapat menemukan berbagai benda yang membuat nama mereka terkenal sampai saat ini ヽ(*⌒▽⌒*)ﾉ

[Poonguzhali]

i learnt about how creative those past inventors were.now i must sstart being creative

[Catarina]

It was funny, it was ironic and it was informative. I love books that can teach us something and make us laugh while doing it. Somehow I always remmeber their teachings more easly.

[Roryrecon]

Very interesting...I found it behind my bookshelf not knowing how it got there and it was INSPIRING!!!!!!!

[Sema]

Dead boring.

[Nael_5]

It is funny, you learn many things, even curious stuff you wouldn't know without readingl it. Again, THANK YOU MIKE YOU TAUGHT ME A LOT OF INTERESTING THIGS THAT I UNDESTOOD EASILY.

[CJ]

great introductory book about different scientists/inventors. great for children who you want to give basic information to or someone who is older and wants to brush up. great for all ages.