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The Tale of the Scale: An Odyssey of Invention
In the mid-1980s, Solly Angel had a technological mini-vision. He saw in his mind's eye a quarter-inch thick personal scale weighing a pound--a travel scale--and he decided to make it a reality, to bring it to market.
The Tale of the Scale is a rare first-person account of the process of invention and design as it unfolds in the remaking of the familiar bathroom scale. It is rare because inventors seldom have the inclination to articulate their thought processes and to recount their experiences in great
detail. Written by an inventor, the book stands apart from recent books about inventors.
Angel, an urban planner by profession, had no mechanical skills as he embarked on his journey. The Tale records his transformation, over the course of a decade, from a bungling ignoramus to an expert on thin scales. Readers know as much about scales--or about invention for that matter--as
Angel does at the beginning of the journey. Listening to Angel's unfolding story, they learn about the intricacies of invention and design as Angel finds out about them.
The Tale of the Scale is truly an odyssey of invention. The pursuit of the thin scale takes readers to fascinating places--from Bangkok to Rolling Hills, California, from Groningen in the Netherlands to Murrhardt in Germany, and from New York to Tokyo. But the places Angel explores are not
only visually different. They are realms of knowledge inhabited by people with diverse yet complementary outlooks on the invention process--engineers, designers, lawyers, product development specialists, corporate functionaries, and friends who philosophize on the deeper meanings of one's life
pursuits.
The Tale of the Scale is a rare first-person account of the process of invention and design as it unfolds in the remaking of the familiar bathroom scale. It is rare because inventors seldom have the inclination to articulate their thought processes and to recount their experiences in great
detail. Written by an inventor, the book stands apart from recent books about inventors.
Angel, an urban planner by profession, had no mechanical skills as he embarked on his journey. The Tale records his transformation, over the course of a decade, from a bungling ignoramus to an expert on thin scales. Readers know as much about scales--or about invention for that matter--as
Angel does at the beginning of the journey. Listening to Angel's unfolding story, they learn about the intricacies of invention and design as Angel finds out about them.
The Tale of the Scale is truly an odyssey of invention. The pursuit of the thin scale takes readers to fascinating places--from Bangkok to Rolling Hills, California, from Groningen in the Netherlands to Murrhardt in Germany, and from New York to Tokyo. But the places Angel explores are not
only visually different. They are realms of knowledge inhabited by people with diverse yet complementary outlooks on the invention process--engineers, designers, lawyers, product development specialists, corporate functionaries, and friends who philosophize on the deeper meanings of one's life
pursuits.
320 pages, Hardcover
First published February 5, 2003
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
Currently reading
March 15, 2024Third reading. I had recalled the basic setup, but forgotten all the delicious details.
July 25, 2008
I'm critical of recent articles, feeds, etc for which individuals recount how they've dreamed and how that dream has manifested. A lack of context, technical language, and style has kept me disinterested. This one, however, really takes the plunge.
Mr. Angel narrates the journey of his dream of 1" bathroom scale from pang of an unpolished daily routine to finally "selling out", or possible "manifesting destiny". As an added gem, he's able to seat you before flashing zoetrope of speficications and blueprints that discretely reveal genius through invention for the sake of invention: flashes of novelty, investigation, years of progress, failure, connections, and disconnections.
Recommended to anyone
Mr. Angel narrates the journey of his dream of 1" bathroom scale from pang of an unpolished daily routine to finally "selling out", or possible "manifesting destiny". As an added gem, he's able to seat you before flashing zoetrope of speficications and blueprints that discretely reveal genius through invention for the sake of invention: flashes of novelty, investigation, years of progress, failure, connections, and disconnections.
Recommended to anyone
August 20, 2009
This is a good read for anyone interested in the creative process of invention, especially if they do not mind comparisons to the creative process in Architecture. For everyone else, it will be boring.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews