Great Inventions Through History (Chambers Compact Reference Series) [Paperback]

Gerald Messadie (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1992 | Series: Chambers Compact Reference Series

Dealing with inventions before 1850, this is one of a series of reference books covering a range of popular subjects, and written and presented in a manner which is designed to appeal to both students and general readers.

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: French

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: W & R Chambers Ltd (September 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0550170057
• ISBN-13: 978-0550170057
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,717,856 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Great Inventions - Not So Great Book, March 26, 2000

By 

Justin Follower (Cedar Falls, IA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Great Inventions Through History (Chambers Compact Reference Series) (Paperback)

As an engineer, I was looking forward to reading this book. Unfortunately, the writing tends to be a little dry.

This book is basically a number of short articles, one to two pages in length, on a large number of inventions. It covers agricultural, mechanical, chemical, and a number of other inventions or discoveries. It gives a brief history of each invention, and then describes the invention.

Often, however, the descriptions are crying for a good illustration. And while there are illustrations scattered throughout the book, there just aren't enough.

3.0 out of 5 stars Fun, March 22, 2002

By 

Kurt A. Johnson (North-Central Illinois, USA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Great Inventions Through History (Chambers Compact Reference Series) (Paperback)

This book is intended to give the reader a taste of where so many things we take for granted came from. Organizing the inventions down by sphere (agriculture and food, energy and mechanics, etc.), each invention is listed with who invented it (if known), where and when. Then a paragraph or more is included that discusses the invention.

Overall, this is not a book to be taken too seriously. I can't see what, if any, criteria was used to determine what was included and what wasn't. Also, the text is often too short to provide more than the most basic of introduction to the invention.

That said, though, this is a fun book, with absolutely tons of information in it. I would classify this as a trivia book, and perhaps a good "bathroom" book, that is one with very short, simple sections.