Disruptive thinking is the Holy Grail technology and engineering but not all brilliantly conceived ideas are hits: they become white elephants.

Author John J. Geoghegan's new book White Elephant Technology: 50 Crazy Inventions That Should Never Have Been Built And What We Can Learn From showcases some of the biggest inventions in STEM that nobody asked for or wanted: systems that were built, tested and worked (more or less - and except on the rare occasions they killed their creators) but ultimately flopped. His study teaches an important lesson: that there’s as much to be learned from failure as success.

Join John for a 45-minute, online presentation and audience Q&A. This discussion – lavishly illustrated with photographs and film clips - will focus on five white elephants whose example are both entertaining and educational!

John has a career of more than 20 years spent investigating what he calls WETech - White Elephant Technology. His work has appeared in numerous publications including the New York Times Science section, Popular Science and Smithsonian's Air & Space magazine. White Elephant Technology: 50 Crazy Inventions That should Never Have Been Built And What We Can Learn From Them - released by The History Press in August 2023 - is his third book on this topic.