Error loading page.
Try refreshing the page. If that doesn't work, there may be a network issue, and you can use our self test page to see what's preventing the page from loading.
Learn more about possible network issues or contact support for more help.

It Looked Good on Paper

ebook

A remarkable compendium of wild schemes, mad plans, crazy inventions, and truly glorious disasters

Every phenomenally bad idea seemed like a good idea to someone. How else can you explain the Ford Edsel or the sword pistol—absolutely absurd creations that should have never made it off the drawing board? It Looked Good on Paper gathers together the most flawed plans, half-baked ideas, and downright ridiculous machines throughout history that some second-rate Einstein decided to foist on an unsuspecting populace with the best and most optimistic intentions. Some failed spectacularly. Others fizzled after great expense. One even crashed on Mars. But every one of them at one time must have looked good on paper, including:

  • The lead water pipes of Rome
  • The Tacoma Narrows Bridge—built to collapse
  • The Hubble telescope—the $2 billion scientific marvel that couldn't see
  • The Spruce Goose—Howard Hughes's airborne atrocity: big, expensive, slow, unstable, and made of wood
  • With more than thirty-five chapters full of incredibly insipid inventions, both infamous and obscure, It Looked Good on Paper is a mind-boggling, endlessly entertaining collection of fascinating failures.


    Expand title description text
    Publisher: HarperCollins

    Kindle Book

    • ISBN: 9780061976964
    • Release date: October 6, 2009

    OverDrive Read

    • ISBN: 9780061976964
    • Release date: October 6, 2009

    EPUB ebook

    • ISBN: 9780061976964
    • File size: 1289 KB
    • Release date: October 6, 2009

    Formats

    Kindle Book
    OverDrive Read
    EPUB ebook

    Languages

    English

    A remarkable compendium of wild schemes, mad plans, crazy inventions, and truly glorious disasters

    Every phenomenally bad idea seemed like a good idea to someone. How else can you explain the Ford Edsel or the sword pistol—absolutely absurd creations that should have never made it off the drawing board? It Looked Good on Paper gathers together the most flawed plans, half-baked ideas, and downright ridiculous machines throughout history that some second-rate Einstein decided to foist on an unsuspecting populace with the best and most optimistic intentions. Some failed spectacularly. Others fizzled after great expense. One even crashed on Mars. But every one of them at one time must have looked good on paper, including:

  • The lead water pipes of Rome
  • The Tacoma Narrows Bridge—built to collapse
  • The Hubble telescope—the $2 billion scientific marvel that couldn't see
  • The Spruce Goose—Howard Hughes's airborne atrocity: big, expensive, slow, unstable, and made of wood
  • With more than thirty-five chapters full of incredibly insipid inventions, both infamous and obscure, It Looked Good on Paper is a mind-boggling, endlessly entertaining collection of fascinating failures.


    Expand title description text
    • Details

      Publisher:
      HarperCollins

      Kindle Book
      ISBN: 9780061976964
      Release date: October 6, 2009

      OverDrive Read
      ISBN: 9780061976964
      Release date: October 6, 2009

      EPUB ebook
      ISBN: 9780061976964
      File size: 1289 KB
      Release date: October 6, 2009

    • Creators
    • Formats
      Kindle Book
      OverDrive Read
      EPUB ebook
    • Languages
      English