Imagine what life would be like without the wheel, the safety lock or the flushable lavatory - without the automatic washing machine, the electric kettle or the television - Discover what the key inventions were, how they came to be made and the brilliant minds who created them. Looking at all aspects of everyday life, from cooking and health to transport and telephony, readers will see how simple breakthrough machines, devices and materials of the past have developed into the sophisticated, high-tech versions of today.