Impossible Inventions: Ideas That Shouldn’t Work

About this book

Human history is peppered with invention: throughout time, people have created fantastic and not-so-brilliant solutions to the problems they encountered in their daily lives. Some famous inventors, like Leonardo Da Vinci, were completely ahead of their time, inventing submarines and helicopters way before the need for them existed.

In Impossible Inventions, the team behind the bestselling Maps detail a wealth of incredible inventions, from 1st-century automatic-opening temple doors, a sweet sorter and an 18th-century magnetic balloon to a 3D-printed space base on the moon.

Each invention is outlined with brilliant diagrammatic illustrations on a double-page spread, and the book puts each invention into a humorous context with a cartoon on the following page. The text is perfectly pitched for an upper primary level child, but grown-ups (and child fans of Dragon’s Den) will also love this unusual compilation of often unheard-of inventions, alongside an appealingly designed package overall.