They Laughed at Galileo: How the Great Inventors Proved Their Critics Wrong

by Albert Jack

A humorous account of great inventors and their critics who predicted failure.They Laughed at Galileo takes a humorous and reflective look at one thousand years of the development of those who dreamt, those who taught, those who opposed, and those who, ultimately, did.At some point in modern history, each and every one of our inventions and discoveries was first envisioned and then developed by a single person, or a handful of people, who dreamt of the seemingly impossible. For them, the future was clear and obvious, but for the vast majority, including the acknowledged experts of their days, such belief was sheer folly.For just about everything that has improved our modern lifestyles in a way that our ancestors could not possibly imagine, there was once a lone dreamer proclaiming, “It can be done.” That dreamer was nearly always opposed by a team of “enlightened” contemporaries publicly declaring, “It cannot be done.” Well, yes it could.Marconi’s wireless radio transmissions were initially deemed pointless. Edward L. Drake’s eventual success on August 27, 1859, was called the day “the crazy man first struck oil.” Louis Pasteur’s theory of germs was considered a “ridiculous fiction.” Each of these inventions has had a profound effect on the course of human history, and each one was rejected, resisted, and ridiculed in its day. Ultimately, the innovators who brought these into existence provided invaluable contributions to science and the culture of humankind.

Genres: Science, History, Nonfiction

241 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 4, 2014

About the author

Albert Jack, pen name for Graham Willmott, is an international best-selling author and historian. He is an expert in explaining the unexplained and has appeared on live television shows and has made thousands of radio appearances worldwide.

Reviews

[Arshika Lalan · Rating 4 out of 5]

“An application for smartphones that replicates the sound of twenty-five forms of flatulence to please the tiniest of minds” . This part had me laughing out loud for two minutes straight .
With cleverly written bite sized anecdotes of how some of the greatest inventions were ridiculed, rejected and ignored, the book is both engaging and oddly motivational. My favorite anecdote was the invention of the sandwich, which apparently we owe to an old unpopular gambler working against organized religion. Makes you wonder what ridiculous inventions will go on to become popular in 50 years time.
The only section I didn’t like was the “How wrong can you be?” part, which was often repetitive and broke the flow of the story. Otherwise the book is fresh, fun and a great read cover to cover !

[Emirhan AVCI · Rating 4 out of 5]

Çevirisi ve redaksiyonu ciddi anlamda sıkıntılı. Fakat içerik gerçekten ilgi çekici ve yazarın üslup da bana yer yer Sunay Akın tadı verdi. Okumanızı tavsiye ederim, keşke daha iyi bir yayınevinden çıkmış olsaydı.

[Lori · Rating 1 out of 5]

No.

Was this book edited?

People's Exhibit A:
"In the same way that had the equipment been developed a little sooner then the fate of the Mary Celeste would not be a mystery."

People's Exhibit B:
"No wonder the Italians never achieved meaningful anything after the Renaissance."

These aren't the only ones, but I'll spare you.

I was also a little put off in the first few pages by what came across as a lack of rigor in the way the author researched (or just presented?) the content. Then I came to the heading entitled "How Wrong Can You Be?" It was followed by this paragraph:

"Oprah Winfrey has become one of the most successful, and powerful, women on television, if not in the world. But it was no easy ride for the celebrated talk show host. Her path to fame and fortune has meant overcoming a rough and sometimes abusive childhood and enduring many career setbacks, including once being released from her job as a television reporter because she was considered 'unfit for TV.'"

And that's is. That was the entire explanation this book offers about how the great Oprah proved her critics wrong. Anybody with a cell phone and a search engine could have written that! (Never mind that it's a bit of a stretch to include Oprah in a book about inventors.)

I didn't expect this book to be a scholarly work, but this is ridiculous.

Annoyed I paid actual money for this book.

[İsmet Yeniad]

Popüler bilim,edebiyat, sinema,ekonomi tarihi derlemelerinden oluşan bir kitap.

[RoseB612 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Knížka o tom, že i ty nejlepší úmysly mohou dopadnout špatně, a občas dopadne dobře i to, co jsme nečekali. Zajímavé fuck up stories, ale i příběhy náhodných slavných objevů či vynálezů užitečných drobností. Na rovinu - jestli je Vám alespoň přes třicet, tak jste většinu těch příběhů už stejně někde četli či slyšeli, takže až na pár výjimek je to spíš opáčko, které neurazí, ale v mém případě ani extra nenadchne.

Svým způsobem je tohle asi ideální kniha pro někoho kolem dvaceti - inspirativní, povzbuzující, plná zajímavých příběhů a přitom už bude čtenář ve věku, kdy Vám neomlátí o hlavu, že "Jobs školu přece taky nedodělal".

Nebylo to špatné, ale na víc než tři hvězdičky to pro mě nebylo.

Kontext: Děti měly ve školce volno, takže na nějaké vážnější čtení ani nebyl čas :-)

První věta: "Zvědavost vždy nakonec vede k inovaci."

Poslední věta: "I dnes, o více než sto let později, představuje motor Rudolfa Diesela stále jeden z nejdůležitějších zdrojů energie na Zemi."

[Ecem Başak · Rating 5 out of 5]

Teknolojiden gidaya pek cok bulusun nasil ortaya ciktigini anlatan cok guzel bir kitap. Gerekli ayrintilarla okuyucuyu sikmadan buluslarin tarihi anlatilmis. Anlatilan hikayelerden kendimiz icin cikarilacak bir sey varsa o da ne olursa olsun pes etmemeyi bilmektir. Edison'un dedigi gibi ampulu icat etmesi 1000 adimda mumkun olmustur, 999 kere denemis olmasi onun basarisizligi degildir.
Ben cok begendim, siz de okuyun. Kitabin Turkce ismi de "Icat Cikarma"

[Bora · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lot's fun about what can go wrong in innovation and whys innovators' lifes are usually very tough. İnovasyonda nelerin yanlış gidebileceğine dair çok eğlenceli bilgiler var. İnovatörlerin hayatlarının neden zor olduğunu da anlıyoruz.

[Subrus · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quick and simple read, though I took seven days because I was able to read for about an hour a day. Bite sized look into some of the life changing inventions through history which might not have happened if not for the perseverance of the inventors. Informative and inspirational compilation.

[Cheryl · Rating 5 out of 5]

SO interesting. A quick overview of many different inventions from science to food and the history behind them.

[Kashish Mehta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great idea and concept starts very well but some topics can be boring. Nevertheless not a one time read but extremely informative

[Ayşenur Tarazoğlu · Rating 3 out of 5]

Merak ve ihtiyaçlar buluşların ortaya çıkmasını sağlamış yıllar içinde. Pek çok buluş bir problemi çözmek için, bazıları başka bir şey ararken yanlışlıkla bulunmuş. Hepsinin ortak özelliği ikna için çok uğraşmış olmaları. Çok büyük buluşlarda bile baştan kimse görememiş, reddetmiş, önemsememiş, mucitler ikna için uğraşıp durmuşlar. Çocukluğumuzda alışılmışın dışında bir şey yapar ya da istersek, “icat çıkarma” derlerdi ya büyüklerimiz, işte tam da öyle olmuş:) Bugün hayatımızda çok önemli yeri olan buluşların başlangıcında ne büyük gaflar var inanılır gibi değil. Gelin bir kaç örnek görelim:
❗️”Bilgisayarın dünyada en fazla beş adetlik pazar payı var.” Thomas Watson, IBM Başkanı, 1924
❗️”İnsanların evlerinde bilgisayar bulundurmaları için hiçbir neden yok.” Ken Olsen, DEC Başkanı, 1977
❗️”At kalıcıdır, otomobil ise geçici bir heves.” Michican Savings Bank Başkanı, Ford Motor Şirketi yatırım önerisine cevaben, 1903
❗️”Otomobillerin uzun mesafe yolcu taşımacılığında demir yollarının yerini alacağını düşünmek boş bir hayalden ibarettir.” Amerikan Demiryolu Kongresi Raporu, 1913
❗️”Televizyon en geç altı ay içinde piyasadan silinecektir. İnsanlar her akşam böyle bir kutuya bakmak istemezler.” Dairy Zanuck, Twentieth Century Fox Başkanı, 1944
❗️”Artık yeni hiçbir şey yok. İcat edilebilecek her şey icat edilmiştir.” Charless Duell, ABD Patent Dairesi Başkanı, 1899

[George Hodgson · Rating 1 out of 5]

Yes this book is interesting and entertaining. Yes, there are a lot of easily read anecdotes—one might even think they had been researched, but how would one know? There are no notes or bibliography. One cannot imagine that the author was there for each of the events that occurred over hundreds of years. There is no way to determine how much of this was made up or how much is true. In fact there is one instance where the author states the anecdote is not true. He then relates it anyway. Fortunately, I paid nothing for this as it was picked up at a book exchange. It will now go back there.

[Kain · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ma jakieśtam minusy, ale generalnie super mi się podoba. Mówi, że trzeba mieć determinację, wierzyć w siebie itp.
Nawet jeśli "najmedrsze" głowy nie dają Twojemu pomysłowi szans, nie wolno sie poddawać, jesli wierzysz, że pomysl jest dobry. Wynalazki, bez których nie wyobrażamy sobie dziś życia, spotykały się kiedyś z ogromnym oporem, ale to właśnie determinacja i wiara w siebie wynalazców/twórców zmieniła świat.

[Joker · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jakiś miesiąc temu czytałem "Niezwykłe perypetie odkryć i wynalazków". Ilość historii, anegdot i szczegółów jest powalająca. Z tego względu recenzowane dzieło, nie zrobiło ma mnie tak dużego wrażenia. Mamy tutaj perypetie odkrywców, gdzie bardziej wytłuszczony jest aspekt motywacji. Ktoś coś zrobił. Nie udało się. Robi jeszcze raz (tylko inaczej) i zostaje milionerem.

[Tuncay Özbek · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Ronald Reagen (1911-2004), 1964'te başvurduğu başkan adayı rolü için yine ret yanıtı aldı...Film şirketinin yetkilileri Reagen'ı "tipi başkan rolüne uymadığı için" geri çevirdiklerini açıkladılar. Reagen ...1980 yılında ABD Başkanı seçildi."
"Dünya infilak etse duyulan son şey bir uzmanın "Bu yapılamaz!" diyen sesi olurdu." P. Ustinov
Asla pes etme diyen bir kitap...Okunmalı.

[Stephen P. Ramocki · Rating 3 out of 5]

The masses are almost always wrong where innovation is concerned.

I teach creativity and this book supports many of the concepts and characteristics of people who are creative. An old farmer told me decades ago that if you have an idea that is favored by 9 out of ten people don't pursue it, but if only one of ten supports it,by all means carry on.

[Deniz Taşkıran · Rating 5 out of 5]

Okurken sürekli hayal kurduran, geçmişte işler ile ilgili yapılan hataları tekrar düşündüren kitap. Tavsiye ederim

[Richard Danks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Huge amount of research put into this. Absolutely crammed with lots of fascinating facts and information. Highly recommended for those interested in this sort of thing.

[Firdaus Aris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting read. Lot of research had been done and presented in easy to read manner.

[Agnieszka Kalus · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5

[Dilan Atalay · Rating 3 out of 5]

En çok kargo servisi ve e-ticaretin gelişmeyeceğini söyleyenlere güldüm😂

[Steve · Rating 5 out of 5]

Why didn’t I think of that

A very well-written book. With 20-20 hindsight one wonders why so many things were blocked. I wish I could have one such an idea.

[Öykü Coşkun · Rating 4 out of 5]

gözüm kaynakça arıyor. eğlenceli, zevkli okuması ama belki hepsi bir hayal ürünü? gerçekliğinden emin olmak istiyorum.

[carmilla · Rating 4 out of 5]

gayet akıcı ve ilgi çekiciydi.

[Ria K · Rating 3 out of 5]

Yazarın kendi milletinden olmayanlara garezi var