In the 15 years between 1962 and 1977, Arthur Paul Pedrick, an amateur inventor, invented and patented 162... er... inventions. Yet not a single invention patented during that time has ever been taken up commercially!
Not that his inventions were worthless... Oh, no... Many were quite ingenious, to be sure. And it is something of a surprise that some of them didn't gain the notoriety they deserved: an amphibious bicycle; eyeglasses which improved visibility in poor-visibility situations; a system for driving a car from the back seat. (I shall allow the readers the honour of coming up with the obvious puns for that last one!)
Mr. Pedrick, the self-proclaimed 'One-Man-Think-Tank' of Sussex, patented a grand scheme to irrigate the world's deserts, turning them into useful, fertile, farmable land once again. A constant stream of snowballs would be sent from the polar regions to the arid deserts through a vast network of giant 'peashooters'.
A golf enthusiast, Paul invented and patented many 'golf gadgets', most of which contravened the rules of the game! His best gadget, by far, would have even the best duffers in the world lining up to buy them: Golf balls which could be steered in flight!
