"Inventions Necessity is not the Mother of" by Stacy V. Jones. NY: Quadrangle/NY Times Book Co., (1973)
From the blurb on the dust jacket:
"Since George Washington signed the first patent in 1790, close to four million inventions have been patented in the United States. (Note: the number of U.S. patents as of April 7, 2015 was nine million.) Among the three hundred plus devices described in this book -- and often illustrated from original patent papers -- are:
* An automatic baby-burper that frees the parent of a chore and the baby of gas.
* A parakeet diaper.
* An automatic housepainter that moves along the sides of a building, and a driverless lawn mower that shuts itself off and garages itself.
* An alarm clock that squirts the sleeper in the face.
* A rifle with a curved barrel for firing around corners.
* A gold or platinum trap for catching tapeworms.
* A golf ball that sends out a smoke signal when it lands to help its owner locate it.
* An anti-bicycle-thief device that sends a long, sharp needle into the rear end of anyone making off with the bicycle.
"Some of these 300-odd inventions never got beyond the paper stage. Some became famous, and made their inventors wealthy. But renowned or obscure, simple or complex, straightforward or bizarre, all are fascinating.
"Stacy V. Jones writes The New York Times "Patents of the Week" column. During World War II he was a special assistant to the Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Air. He also worked on public information at the Department of Commerce in the Eisenhower administration.
"A member of the National Press Club since 1941, Mr. Jones has written a monthly page of inventions for "Science Digest" for more than ten years. He has worked as a newspaper reporter in Seattle, Detroit, Washington, D.C. and New York, and as a correspondent for Liberty magazine."
"Inventions Necessity is not the Mother of" by Stacy V. Jones. NY: Quadrangle/NY Times Book Co., (1973)
From the blurb on the dust jacket:
"Since George Washington signed the first patent in 1790, close to four million inventions have been patented in the United States. (Note: the number of U.S. patents as of April 7, 2015 was nine million.) Among the three hundred plus devices described in this book -- and often illustrated from original patent papers -- are:
* An automatic baby-burper that frees the parent of a chore and the baby of gas.
* A parakeet diaper.
* An automatic housepainter that moves along the sides of a building, and a driverless lawn mower that shuts itself off and garages itself.
* An alarm clock that squirts the sleeper in the face.
* A rifle with a curved barrel for firing around corners.
* A gold or platinum trap for catching tapeworms.
* A golf ball that sends out a smoke signal when it lands to help its owner locate it.
* An anti-bicycle-thief device that sends a long, sharp needle into the rear end of anyone making off with the bicycle.
"Some of these 300-odd inventions never got beyond the paper stage. Some became famous, and made their inventors wealthy. But renowned or obscure, simple or complex, straightforward or bizarre, all are fascinating.
"Stacy V. Jones writes The New York Times "Patents of the Week" column. During World War II he was a special assistant to the Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Air. He also worked on public information at the Department of Commerce in the Eisenhower administration.
"A member of the National Press Club since 1941, Mr. Jones has written a monthly page of inventions for "Science Digest" for more than ten years. He has worked as a newspaper reporter in Seattle, Detroit, Washington, D.C. and New York, and as a correspondent for Liberty magazine."