There is a scifi short story called ‘The Man Who Came Early’ where a modern engineering student is sent back in time but his lack of practical know-how and his over-sophisticated ideas lead to none of his suggestions being implemented.
literature
When Roald Dahl attended school…
When Roald Dahl attended school, the nearby Cadbury chocolate factory would occasionally send boxes of new chocolates to the school to be tested by students. It is believed that this likely inspired him in writing his third children’s book, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
In 1969 an experimental book…
In 1969 an experimental book named The Unfortunates was published. It shipped as a ‘book in a box’ consisting of 27 unbound sections with the first and last chapter specified. The remaining sections range from a single paragraph to 12 pages in length and are designed to be read in any order.
Douglas Adams came up with the…
Douglas Adams came up with the title for The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy while lying drunk in a field near Innsbruck with a copy of The Hitch-Hikers Guide to Europe. Looking up at the stars, he thought it would be a good idea for someone to write a hitchhiker’s guide to the galaxy as well.
Charles Dickens’ novels were hugely…
Charles Dickens’ novels were hugely popular even among the illiterate poor. They would pool their money to hire a reader, and then gather together to listen to the stories.
A writer was caught for a murder…
A writer was caught for a murder only after a detective read his book about a fictional murder which contained similarities and details to the real life murder that only the killer would know about. Authorities also learned he was also planning to commit another murder to write book about.
True History is considered the earliest form of science…
True History is considered the earliest form of science fiction written in 2nd century about adventurers who travel to outer space and get involved in interplanetary warfare between the king of the Moon and the king of the Sun.
A book, called Ella Minnow Pea, is set on an island where the government…
A book, called Ella Minnow Pea, is set on an island where the government slowly bans letters. As the letters are banned, they disappear from the writing in the book as well.
The Iliad and the Odyssey are just two parts out of an eight-part…
The Iliad and the Odyssey are just two parts out of an eight-part epic, but the other six parts have been almost entirely lost to history.
Some Cuban cigar factories employed a “Lector” who would read newspapers….
Some Cuban cigar factories employed a “Lector” who would read newspapers, political treatises and classical literature aloud to help break the monotony of the cigar-rollers’ work, thus even illiterate cigar-rollers would be well-informed and familiar with great literature.