It Looked Good on Paper
by Bill Fawcett
A remarkable compendium of wild schemes, mad plans, crazy inventions, and truly glorious disastersEvery phenomenally bad idea seemed like a good idea to someone. How else can you explain the Ford Edsel or the sword pistol — absolutely absurd creations that should have never made it off the drawing board? It Looked Good on Paper gathers together the most flawed plans, half-baked ideas, and downright ridiculous machines throughout history that some second-rate Einstein decided to foist on an unsuspecting populace with the best and most optimistic intentions. Some failed spectacularly. Others fizzled after great expense. One even crashed on Mars. But every one of them at one time must have looked good on paper, including:The lead water pipes of RomeThe Tacoma Narrows Bridge — built to collapseThe Hubble telescope — the $2 billion scientific marvel that couldn't seeThe Spruce Goose — Howard Hughes's airborne atrocity: big...