| Linux Science: 457 of 622 |
The Man Who Almost Invented The Vacuum Cleaner
The man officially credited with inventing the vacuum cleaner is
Hubert Cecil Booth. However, he got the idea from a man who almost
invented it.
In 1901 Booth visited a London music-hall. On the bill was an
American inventor with his wonder machine for removing dust from carpets.
The machine comprised a box about one foot square with a bag on top.
After watching the act -- which made everyone in the front six rows sneeze
-- Booth went round to the inventor's dressing room.
"It should suck not blow," said Booth, coming straight to the
point. "Suck?", exclaimed the enraged inventor. "Your machine just moves
the dust around the room," Booth informed him. "Suck? Suck? Sucking is
not possible," was the inventor's reply and he stormed out. Booth proved
that it was by the simple expedient of kneeling down, pursing his lips and
sucking the back of an armchair. "I almost choked," he said afterwards.
-- Stephen Pile, "The Book of Heroic Failures"
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| Linux Science: 458 of 622 |
The marvels of today's modern technology include the development of a
soda can, when discarded will last forever ... and a $7,000 car which
when properly cared for will rust out in two or three years.
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| Linux Science: 459 of 622 |
The meek shall inherit the earth; the rest of us will go to the stars.
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| Linux Science: 460 of 622 |
The meek shall inherit the earth; the rest of us, the Universe.
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| Linux Science: 461 of 622 |
The moon is a planet just like the Earth, only it is even deader.
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| Linux Science: 462 of 622 |
The moon is made of green cheese.
-- John Heywood
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| Linux Science: 463 of 622 |
The moon may be smaller than Earth, but it's further away.
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| Linux Science: 464 of 622 |
The more they over-think the plumbing the easier it is to stop up the drain.
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| Linux Science: 465 of 622 |
The most advantageous, pre-eminent thing thou canst do is not to exhibit
nor display thyself within the limits of our galaxy, but rather depart
instantaneously whence thou even now standest and flee to yet another rotten
planet in the universe, if thou canst have the good fortune to find one.
-- Carlyle
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| Linux Science: 466 of 622 |
The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new
discoveries, is not "Eureka!" (I found it!) but "That's funny ..."
-- Isaac Asimov
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