We take thousands of inventions for granted, using them daily and enjoying their benefits. But how much do we really know about their origins and development? This absorbing new book tells the stories behind the inventions that have changed the world.

Presents a review of technological innovations and inventions, from the ancient world to the present day.

Modern society owes a tremendous amount to the Muslim world for the many groundbreaking scientific and technological advances that were pioneered during the Golden Age of Muslim civilization between the 7th and 17th centuries. Every time you drink coffee, eat a three-course meal, get a whiff of your favorite perfume, take shelter in an earthquake-resistant structure, get a broken bone set or solve an algebra problem, it is in part due to the discoveries of Muslim civilization.

"1001 inventions, official children's companion to the exhibition"--Cover.

Writer and cartoonist Anthony Rubino, Jr. hilariously shares 101 inventions that bizarrely changed the world. Why Didn't I Think of That? proves not all successful inventions are the greatest thing since sliced bread (not even sliced bread, which is literally just a precut loaf for lazy loafs). This humorous guide to “mind-blowing” inventions deconstructs just how complex these can't-live-without necessities really are, while providing some insightful(ly funny) lessons to future inventors, such as: Yo-yos: Deadly weapons do make great kids' toys. Soccer: Boredom is the stepmother of invention. Bottled water: There is no such thing as a stupid idea. Complete with useful trivia--like the fact that 100 trillion paperclips have been sold--readers will be able to impress their friends by hardly trying.

This book reflects on debates among historians of science, medicine and technology as well as Islamicate societies about fundamental questions of how we think and write about the intellec-tual and technological past in cultures to which we do not belong any longer or never were a member of. These debates are occasioned by the manner in which amateurs have taken bits and pieces from our academic narratives and those of our predecessors, stripped them of their richness in detail and their often agonizing efforts to interpret these details, and rearranged them in simplifying and often misguided fashion as outdated stories about glory, success, pri-ority and progress. Our texts are accompanied by reflections of professional curators and mu-seum directors about the difficulties of translating academic research into representations that attract different groups of visitors. They are followed by experiences in northern Europe with Islamophobic adversaries of any narrative about Muslim contributions to the sciences, medi-cine and technologies, and in one of the Gulf States with alleged reformers of the political, economic and educational landscape of the sheikhdom and their use of such amateurish narra-tives for blocking efforts of critical questioning of such self-congratulatory representations.