edisons concrete piano flying tanks six nippled sheep walk on water shoes and 12 other flops from great inventors
highlighting the careers of well known inventors this exploration of failure amid greatness reveals the lesser known and most fascinating facts about their careers their wackier hobbies and their big flops alongside great successes . 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 multinippled sheep somewhere along the way . the ludicrous ideas and faulty designs housed in this volume will inspire laughs and serve as a reminder that even the very best minds make mistakes .