One of the biggest actresses of MGM’s Golden Age, also lived a quiet life as an inventor. During World War II, Hedy Lamarr invented a form of wireless communication that led to Bluetooth, GPS and more.
http://www.npr.org/2011/11/27/142664182/most-beautiful-woman-by-day-inventor-by-night
Paul Fenwick takes us through a humorous journey of bad inventions from bygone eras. They are cautionary tales with a plea for inventors not to screw up. He talks about asthma cigarettes, cocaine toothache drops for children, the Tempest prognosticator, and blood fueled devices. In the world of bad inventions, toys take center stage, with Cabbage Patch Doll "snack-time kid" which grinds its plastic food into dust along with other unintended food.
Paul Fenwick’s cautionary tale about bad inventions is a humorous talk on how things can go terribly wrong if inventors screw up because they didn’t carefully think their way through the development and marketing of new inventions. Paul discusses asthma cigarettes, cocaine toothache drops for children, the Tempest Prognosticator, the use of leeches, and blood fuel devices as examples of poorly thought out inventions.
In the field of bad inventions, toys take center stage, as Paul explores Cabbage Patch "snack time kid" and the unintended consequences produced by this poorly thought out toy. Various forms of melty beads are looked at. Hear tales of the Atomic Energy Lab, which contained uranium ore and a comic book on how to split the atom.
Non-toy inventions such as a fire alarm trap to catch pranksters, a fresh air breathing device in case of smoke, as well as the 20 million dollar "acoustic kitty", all terible inventions based on good ideas. He wraps up with his talk on terrible inventions with his own invention that helps people to be more productive while driving their cars.
Mike Green, author of ‘The Nearly Men’, delves into the dark side of technological advance, looking at the bitter rivalries, tales of treachery and acts of deceit behind the inventions and scientific discoveries which defined the modern age.
Mike Green, author of ‘The Nearly Men: A Chronicle Of Scientific Failure’.
Steven Berlin Johnson is a writer and entrepreneur who writes on the history of ideas. His books have included Everything Bad is Good for You, which suggested that contemporary popular culture is more challenging to the mind than it’s accused of being, and The Ghost Map: The Story of London’s Most Terrifying Epidemic—and How It Changed Science, Cities, and the Modern World, which tracked the spread of cholera in London in the mid-19th century as a way to understand the networked modern city. His newest book, The Invention of Air: A Story of Science, Faith, Revolution and the Birth of America tracks the life of the 18th century writer and scientist Joseph Priestley, and how his story can help us learn about the growth and development of ideas. Johnson also created the news discussion site plastic.com and the hyper-local site outside.in.
http://www.maximumfun.org/blog/2009/03/steven-johnson-author-of-invention-of.html
How are the discovery of oxygen, the founding of the Unitarian Church and ecosystem science linked? Author Steven Johnson tells the story of scientist and theologian Joseph Priestley, a protege of Benjamin Franklin and friend of Thomas Jefferson, in The Invention of Air.
What is the future for art and ideas in an age when practically anything can be copied, pasted, downloaded, sampled, and re-imagined?
LIVE from the NYPL and WIRED Magazine kick off the Spring 2009 season with a spirited discussion of the emerging remix culture. Our guides through this new world—who will take us from Jefferson’s Bible to André the Giant to Wikipedia—will be Lawrence Lessig, author of Remix, founder of Creative Commons, and one of the leading legal scholars on intellectual property issues in the Internet age; acclaimed street artist Shepard Fairey, whose iconic Obama "HOPE" poster was recently acquired by the National Portrait Gallery; and cultural historian Steven Johnson, whose new book, The Invention of Air, argues that remix culture has deep roots in the Enlightenment and among the American founding fathers.
From http://www.nypl.org/research/chss/pep/pepdesc.cfm?id=5206
Author Steven Johnson’s new book, The Invention of Air, is, on the one hand, a supple examination of the man largely credited with the discovery of oxygen. On the other, it’s a subtle reminder of the intellectual glories of bygone days when great thinkers mastered numerous fields, not merely one.
http://www.npr.org/rss/podcast/podcast_detail.php?siteId=93525086
English scientist, philosopher and theologian Joseph Priestley conducted experiments that led to the discovery of oxygen. But he was also central in the politics and religious life of England and early America. We talk about Priestley with author Steven Johnson.