Communication

By Albert Jack

From the bestselling author of Red Herrings & White Elephants, Shaggy Dogs, Pop Goes the Weasel, They Laughed at Galileo and many more... 

‘If the world should blow itself up, the last audible voice would be that of an expert saying, ‘It can’t be done.’ – Peter Ustinov

Introduction

Curiosity will eventually lead to innovation. Fortunately we are an imaginative species who does a lot of wondering. Way back to when man first learned to walk upright and began communicating with each other, by pointing and shouting, we can find the earliest examples. Somebody once thought, ‘I know, we can move that heavy rock, or dead buffalo, by rolling it along on tree trunks because it is easier than dragging it over the ground.’

This, of course, led to the wheel. It must have been around that time that some other clever soul worked out that if he held some meat over that hot fiery thing then it tasted better. It seems basic but it was innovation. Somebody somewhere decided to take the risk of burning their food down into ashes, as they knew the burning logs did, just to see if it tasted any better.

But I bet there was someone else laughing at him and saying ‘don’t do that, it’s a terrible idea,’ (or whatever is was they would have said back then.) And that’s innovation too. That’s discovery and invention.

We have been doing it ever since in one form or another and we have come a long way as a species thanks to people who take risks and ignore the advice of wiser ones. And that, in a nutshell, is what They Laughed at Galileo is all about.

This, then, is the story of communication and how Marconi developed the radio, Alexander Graham Bell worked out how to send a voice down electrical wires, computers made life so much easier and satellites changed the way we communicate forever.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Albert Jack Publishing
• Release date: Feb 28, 2018
• ISBN: 9781386760436

Book preview

Table of Contents

Communication | Great Invention Ideas: The Development of Modern Communication | (2018 eBook Edition)

Albert Jack | Albert Jack Publishing

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Further Reading: Awesome Inventions

Also By Albert Jack

About the Author

Communication

Great Invention Ideas: The Development of Modern Communication

(2018 eBook Edition)

Albert Jack

Albert Jack Publishing

Copyright Page

Communication

Great Invention Ideas: The Development of Modern Communication

(2018 eBook Edition)

Extracted from They Laughed at Galileo

Copyright ©December 2015 Albert Jack

Cover Art: Albert Jack Publishing

Cover Design: Albert Jack Publishing

All rights are reserved to the author. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

This is a work of non-fiction

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About the Author

Albert Jack, is a writer and historian. His first book, Red Herrings and White Elephants explored the origins of well-known idioms and phrases and became an international bestseller in 2004.

It was serialised by the Sunday Times and remained in their bestseller list for sixteen straight months. He followed this up with a series of bestsellers including Shaggy Dogs and Black Sheep, Pop Goes the Weasel and What Caesar did for My Salad.

Fascinated by discovering the truth behind the world’s great stories, Albert has become an expert in explaining the unexplained, enriching millions of dinner table conversations and ending bar-room disputes the world over.

He is now a veteran of hundreds of live television shows and thousands of radio programmes worldwide. Albert lives somewhere between Guildford in England and Cape Town in South Africa.

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