Histories Worst Inventions

Click herThe latest book I am reading is called “Histories Worst Inventions.”  The cover has a pushbike with square wheels on it.  I think a sentence I just read sums it up pretty well.  The author lists a pile of people and then writes “…we salute your ingenuity and courage, even though they were accompanied by total and utter insanity.”
I do like how this book is arranged. Besides giving a pile of stories and the stories behind them, it has two lots of headings next to each.  Under Failing is: It never got off the ground; Didn’t work in practice; Killed its inventor; A commercial failure; Unforeseen consequences; Was used for evil ends and A success born of failure.  One story can have one or many of these headings highlighted.  Under the other headings are: Main Culprit, Motivation and Damage done.
Many of these stories seem ludicrous and are humorous, but the inventor spent a lot of time thinking about them, and in some cases it cost them their life.  I certainly feel for those inventors, but the more sinister elements to me have to do with motivation and damage done.
In many cases the motivation was greed.  The invention was seen as a way to make a quick buck, and hang the consequences. An example of this was the Asbestos table cloth.  Tulip mania ruined the Dutch economy in 1640 and smoking invented by the American Indians, still wreaks havoc.  Probably most of us are familiar with the charlatans that plied their trade in the American west.  They offered miracle cures in the form of a bottled potion.  The aim was not to get someone better, but to make a quick buck and disappear.
Sometimes the damage done was only to the inventor, but on other occasions masses were killed.  Smoking has done that, as have land mines.  The pseudo-science of Eugenics, encouraged racism, and lead to the elimination of millions to bring about the Nazi’s “master race.”
Others were just bad ideas.  They were particularly bad for their inventor.  Sure the concept may have been a good one, but the materials available at the time were inadequate.  The pursuit of human flight saw a number of people plummet to their deaths.  The fuel that powered the Zeppelin when it exploded in a ball of flames, was introduced as a cost cutting device.  I read of an astronaut saying that knowing some of the parts in the rocket went to the lowest bidder, did not inspire confidence.
I reckon it is great to invent something new that people want and use.  I just do not know I would give my life to do it though.e to edit.