{"product_id":"it-looked-good-on-paper-bizarre-inventions-design-disasters-and-engineering-follies-9780061358432","title":"It Looked Good on Paper: Bizarre Inventions, Design Disasters, and Engineering Follies","description":"\u003cp\u003eA remarkable compendium of wild schemes, mad plans, crazy inventions, and truly glorious disasters\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eEvery 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? \u003cem\u003eIt Looked Good on Paper\u003c\/em\u003e 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: \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe lead water pipes of Rome\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe Tacoma Narrows Bridge--built to collapse\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe Hubble telescope--the $2 billion scientific marvel that couldn't see\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe Spruce Goose--Howard Hughes's airborne atrocity: big, expensive, slow, unstable, and made of wood\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\u003cp\u003eWith more than thirty-five chapters full of incredibly insipid inventions, both infamous and obscure, \u003cem\u003eIt Looked Good on Paper\u003c\/em\u003e is a mind-boggling, endlessly entertaining collection of fascinating failures.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eFawcett, Bill:\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e - \u003cp\u003eBill Fawcett is the author and editor of more than a dozen books, including \u003cem\u003eYou Did What?\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eIt Seemed Like a Good Idea . . . \u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eHow to Lose a Battle\u003c\/em\u003e, and \u003cem\u003eYou Said What?\u003c\/em\u003e He lives in Illinois.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"William Morrow \u0026 Company","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50491379941650,"sku":"9780061358432","price":10.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_ecc1595c-9c03-4ec2-8b2a-a6909084aedd.jpg?v=1730539992","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/it-looked-good-on-paper-bizarre-inventions-design-disasters-and-engineering-follies-9780061358432","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}