Inventing a Better Mousetrap: 200 Years of American History in the Amazing World of Patent Models - Paperback

by Alan Rothschild (Author), Ann Rothschild (Author)

Learn about the role that patent models played in American history--and even learn to build your own replica!

Patent models, working models required for US patent filings from 1790 to 1880, offer insight into--and inspiration from--a period of intense technological advancement, the Industrial Revolution. The Rothschild Patent Model Collection consists of thousands of patent models, many from the 19th century. This book features the most outstanding of these patent models, and offers deep insight into the cultural, economic, and political history of the United States.

This book not only catalogs hundreds of the most compelling models from the collection, but shows you how to build your own replicas of several selected models using Lego, 3D printing, and other materials and techniques.

Author Biography

Alan Rothschild owns the largest privately-owned collection of publicly-viewable patent models, the Rothschild Petersen Patent Model Museum. Containing nearly 4,000 patent models and related documents, the collection spans America's Industrial Revolution. Alan Rothschildâ "an inventor himselfâ "has constructed an impressive facility to display hundreds of the models, along with a workshop/laboratory where the remaining models are stored, studied and cared for.