You've probably heard of a few inventors and their bright ideas:

1. Alexander Graham Bell and his telephone
2. George Stevenson and his rocket (which was really a train)
3. John Logie Baird and his television

 

But did you know that:

1. Bell didn't invent the phone but he did make a weird machine out of hay and a human ear
2. Stevenson didn't invent the train but he did spend a lot of time collecting gas in bladders
3. Baird's telly was useless, and so were his thermostatic socks?

 

Yes, even though they're dead, inventors are still full of surprises and you can meet ten of history's barmiest bright sparks in here. Get the inside story from their long-lost notebooks, read the newspapers as their ground-breaking inventions hit the headlines and discover the stories behind some of the greatest ideas in the world.