It Looked Good on Paper: Bizarre Inventions, Design Disasters, and Engineering Follies
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I give the book a low rating simply because the book lacks any information, even a smidge more would do the varied subjects greater justice-injustice. Instead the book at times is akin to a Cracked wank piece that scoffs at the fools in the past and their daft ideas. Informative enough for many no doubt. Just not enough for me to really value. Read it, follow up on what ever is listed and enjoy it for what it is. Jul 24, James rated it really liked it Shelves: Some of the stories didn't strike me as especially funny, either because they were already well enough known to be old hat or because they weren't really that bad.
Also, I spotted a couple of factual errors, a significant problem for a book like this. Still, this is entertaining light reading for the most part. Aug 10, A rated it liked it. Feb 05, Christina rated it liked it Shelves: Some of the stories were fascinating, but after awhile I lost interest. Different authors wrote different pieces and some were just too technical to really peak my interest. Jan 09, Kathleen rated it really liked it.
Recommended for fans of "How They Choked. Sep 11, Deidra Dawn rated it really liked it. Some were pretty funny! Aug 21, Ari rated it did not like it. Picked this up at the MIT Press outlet bookstore because it looked interesting. Unfortunately, the book is painfully shallow. The book is a long series of vignettes, without any real analysis. It sneers, when it should explain.
A lot of their examples are military, but the authors don't know as much as they think they do.
Both performed badly in World War II, but this wasn't because they were particularly bad designs, or pa Picked this up at the MIT Press outlet bookstore because it looked interesting. Both performed badly in World War II, but this wasn't because they were particularly bad designs, or particularly badly executed. Both were simply obsolete. Antony Preston has a much more interesting and illuminating discussion of the loss of the Hood in "world's worst warships", without using many more words.
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The Maginot line and Great Wall of China are both listed as engineering failures, which is silly. Both were capably engineered fortification systems, imperfectly defended. Sep 07, Steve Mount rated it really liked it. I like books like this - a quick read; small, almost anecdotal episodes; fascinating looks into history.
This book sorely could have used illustrations, though in this Internet age, I was able to look up each item it discussed quickly.
It Looked Good on Paper: Bizarre Inventions, Design Disasters, and Engineering Follies
This editor has several other similar books, and I might check them out. The editor himself wrote several chapters, though they were always the shortest ones. I think the editor could have spent a little more time on his own entries. Jan 30, Alex rated it liked it Shelves: This tells the tale of some fascinating failures: There are several forgotten flops that are truly awful, but there are also a few entries that I really wouldn't call failures, since they were ultimately fixed-- like the Hubble telescope. Fawcett seems to have a military background, because we get a lot of stories about over-budget, under-performing weapons programs.
Oct 30, Jeff Swystun rated it it was ok. I love the cover and the premise. Too bad it is childishly executed with the organization of the content being disjointed and distracting.
Still, there are charming bits like including the Starr Report in a collection of failed inventions. I also love this line, "Somewhere still buried in a cave has to be the prototype of a square wheel. Jan 24, Jeffrey rated it really liked it. This book is a humorous non-fiction book. In it is many great plans of architecture, transportation, weaponary, aviation, marine vessels, medicine that has failed in the real world, like the Great Wall of China designed to stop the Mongols , the Messerchimits, the German Kamikaze, The Concorde, Amphicar, Hubble Space Telescope, Russian Mars Program, Nuclear Cannon, gas Bomb, the Langley Aerodrome, and the tower of Pisa.
Feb 22, Kristi Thielen rated it did not like it.
A mildly interesting compilation of inventions that went wrong. Much too much focus on blunders in the military - although that certainly says something about the military - and not enough attention to other failures. The books includes bad cars the Pinto but says nothing about the most spectacular automotive blunder: Mar 17, Peter rated it did not like it. Slapped together bits that read like Wikipedia cliff notes cheaply presented on newsprint quality paper.
If it took longer than 4 weeks to conceive, compile and publish this book I'd be surprised. I gave it 1 star because you can't give out zeros. The book makes you want to research the "rest of the story" when you get time. Good book when you are hanging out at the airport. Apr 02, Ann rated it really liked it Shelves: Just what I like. Aug 13, ToTo rated it liked it. As bedtime reading for the would-be Engineer, this book is extremely accessible and highly amusing. Apr 27, Cristhian rated it did not like it.
A really forguetable book, full of not very interesting stories written in a very superficial manner. Bill Fawcett is the author and editor of more than a dozen books, including You Did What? He lives in Illinois. In this remarkable volume, fifteen former SEALs—most of them original founding team members, or "plankowners"—share their vivid first-person remembrances of action in Vietnam.
Here are honest, brutal, and relentlessly thrilling stories of covert missions, ferocious firefights, and red-hot chopper insertions and extractions, revealing astonishing little-known truths that will only add strength to the enduring SEAL legend.
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From the days of the Spanish Armada to the modern age of aircraft carriers, battles have been bungled just as badly on water as they have been on land. Some blunders were the result of insufficient planning, overinflated egos, espionage, or miscalculations; others were caused by ideas that didn't hold water in the first place. In glorious detail, here are thirty-three of history's worst maritime mishaps, including:. Chock-full of amazing facts and hilarious trivia, How to Lose a War at Sea is the most complete volume of nautical failures ever assembled.
Mary Todd Lincoln had an endearing little clothing fetish. Go West, Young Prez: Hayes did in Many prominent leaders were absolutely convinced that John Adams was stark raving bonkers! War pressed against every frontier. Suddenly dismayed, governments struggled and twisted to fend it off. It was no use. Barbara Tuchman's universally acclaimed, Pulitzer prize-winning account of how the first thirty days of battle determined the course of the First World War is to this day revered as the classic account of the conflict's opening.
From the precipitous plunge into war and the brutal and bloody battles of August , Tuchman shows how events were propelled by a horrific logic which swept all sides up in its unstoppable momentum. She died in The annals of history are littered with horribly bad military leaders. These combat incompetents found amazing ways to ensure their army's defeat. Whether it was a lack of proper planning, miscalculation, ego, bad luck, or just plain stupidity, certain wartime stratagems should never have left the drawing board.
Written with wit, intelligence, and eminent readability, How to Lose a Battle pays dubious homage to these momentous and bloody blunders, including:.
- About the author.
- It Looked Good on Paper.
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- It Looked Good on Paper - Bill Fawcett - E-book;
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- Leer la Biblia como Palabra de Dios (Estudios Bíblicos) (Spanish Edition)?
How to Lose a Battle includes more than thirty-five chapters worth of astonishing and avoidable disasters, both infamous and obscure -- a treasure trove of trivia, history, and jaw-dropping facts about the most costly military missteps ever taken. Try Google Play with Chrome. It Looked Good on Paper: 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.
But every one of them at one time must have looked good on paper, including: Flowing text, Original pages. Web, Tablet, Phone, eReader. It syncs automatically with your account and allows you to read online or offline wherever you are. Please follow the detailed Help center instructions to transfer the files to supported eReaders. An Oral History of the U. Navy SEALs have long been considered among the finest, most courageous, and professional soldiers in American military history—an elite fighting force trained as parachutists, frogmen, demolition experts, and guerrilla warriors ready for sea, air, and land combat.
Your display name should be at least 2 characters long. He is one of the founders of Mayfair Games, a board and role-play gaming company. Not much detail or depth is really given regardless. I sort of liken the books of this nature as a caption read, even though this book lacks illustrations or images. How to Lose a Battle includes more than thirty-five chapters worth of astonishing and avoidable disasters, both infamous and obscure -- a treasure trove of trivia, history, and jaw-dropping facts about the most costly military missteps ever taken.