Need to ponder? Need to be inspired? How about taking a minute a day to read what was invented or made on the same day so many years ago. You can with Mad Sceince edited by Randy Alfred from Wired's This Day in Tech blog. 365 days of what we use or what makes life easier are rolled up into a book that looks like it's a collected volume of Wired Magazine.
I never thought the man who invented the safety pin did it to pay back a friend fifteen dollars. You can find out how the American Screw Company made it easier for us to win World War II with the phillips head screw. All these factual tidbits will pump your brain full of knowledge resulting in better social conversation, thought process and getting closer to the answer to the universe. It will also help you in trivia games or if you're ever on Jepoardy.
Not everyday is invention, maybe when a spcae shuttle goes off or something gets discovered. They even have when poor ol' Pluto was deplanetized, which is a word now.. I guess? Hey, they even have when Nitnedo started.
This feels like a Wired book, meaning it's not a boring read. You're expanding you brain while you're entertained. It's like picking up a trivia book on a wide assorment of human endeavour that will be a quick read or something to skim through each day so you know something more about it. Little notes like birthdays of the famous or whatever the main article didn't capture stick to the bottom of each page. When is H.R. Giger's birthday? I'd like to send him a really scary card.
