Einstein's Refrigerator: And Other Stories from the Flip Side of History

by Steve Silverman

Overview

Steve Silverman was looking for a way to add some spice to his high school lectures when he realized that weird and bizarre true-life stories would capture his students' attention. In fact, they worked so well that the science teacher then began posting his discoveries to his own Web site, which he dubbed Useless Information. Well-researched and clearly sourced, Silverman's unusual tidbits have gained a wide following.

In Einstein's Refrigerator, Silverman collects more than 30 of the most fascinating stories he has gathered--tales of forgotten genius, great blunders, and incredible feats of survival, as well as answers to puzzling questions.

Einstein's Refrigerator is a remarkable book with spellbinding stories. Whatever happened to the refrigerator Einstein helped invent? While it never became a commercial success, its underlying concepts became the basis for cooling nuclear breeder reactors. 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780740789441
Publisher:	Andrews McMeel Publishing, LLC
Publication date:	01/01/2009
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	192
Sales rank:	195,698
File size:	7 MB

About the Author

Steve Silverman teaches earth science, physics, and computer science at Chatham High School near Albany, N.Y. An inventor with more than 100 inventions to his credit, Steve also maintains a Web site, Useless Information (www.uselessinformation.org), has won numerous awards, including Yahoo's Site of the Week.

Table of Contents

	Introduction	vii
Part 1	You've got to be kidding!	1
	Mike, the Headless Chicken: He really was a chicken running around with his head cut off	3
	Fartman: You can really earn a living releasing foul-smelling gas!	7
	The Collyer Brothers: But where was Langley?	10
	Michael Malloy: Possibly history's most bizarre murder scheme	16
	The Rooster Booster: The feathers will be flying!	24
	Ballooning: Up, up, and away in my beautiful lawn chair	28
Part 2	oops!	33
	The Great Boston Molasses Tragedy: History's stickiest disaster	35
	Citicorp Tower: Watch out for the Leaning Tower of Citibank	38
	The Lake Peigneur Disaster: And away goes the lake down the drain!	45
	The Rainman: Don't wish for too much of a good thing	49
Part 3	Inventive genius	55
	Kitty Litter: What's the scoop?	57
	Einstein's Refrigerator: He really did design modern iceboxes	60
	The Foot Thingy: Whatchamacallit?	64
	America's First Subway: It was one big secret	67
	Vaseline: It's yummy for your tummy!	75
	Hedy Lamarr: Not exactly your typical nerdy inventor with a pocket protector	78
	The Zipper: Hey! Your fly is open!	85
	Nikola Tesla: He makes Thomas Edison look like a dummy	91
Part 4	hmmm	99
	George Washington: He was really the ninth president of the United States!	101
	Emperor Norton 1: The U.S.A.'s first and only emperor	105
	Pennies for College: A college education for just pennies	110
	Fu-Go: The strangest weapon of World War II	113
	Bat Bombs: The other top-secret weapon	119
Part 5	Incredible stories of survival	125
	The Titanic: The curse of Violet Jessop	127
	Poon Lim: How did he manage to survive?	132
	Mount Pelee: How an election killed the entire electorate	138
Part 6	Unbelievable!	143
	Gadsby: An E-less novel	145
	Niagara Falls--Part 1: The day the falls actually went dry	148
	Niagara Falls--Part 2: An unusual contest	151
	The Al-Kuwait: How Donald Duck helped save the day	153
	The Baby Derby: How many babies can a woman have in ten years?	155
	References	159

Editorial Reviews

Want some useless information? Log onto www.uselessinformation.org, a Yahoo! Site of the Week. Here is a collection of bizarre true stories used by Steve Silverman, who teaches earth science, physics, and computer science at Chatham High School in New York. He found that students became curious and excited about science and history when reading about Mike the headless chicken (photo provided), John Hanson (the first President of the United States), Joshua Norton (our first and only emperor), Hedy Lamarr (actress and inventor), and Joseph Pujol, who made a living passing gas. He imitated voices, sound effects, and even played musical scores. Silverman's collection is fun and informative and useless. It is sure to be a hit. KLIATT Codes: JSA—Recommended for junior and senior high school students, advanced students, and adults. 2001, Andrews McMeel, 183p., $9.95. Ages 13 to adult. Reviewer: Janet Julian; English Teacher, Retired, Grafton H.S., Grafton, M , November 2001 (Vol. 35, No. 6)

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