Every invention begins as a daydream—and some dreams are too strange to ever become real. Machines of the Mind is a joyful exploration of the imaginary devices that never made it off the drafting table, from 19th-century flying umbrellas to quantum coffee makers that existed only on paper. Yet behind each impossible design lies a story of real science, failed genius, and unexpected inspiration. This beautifully written book reveals how fantasy and engineering have always worked hand in hand. Long before AI, robotics, or virtual reality, inventors imagined machines that could think, heal, and even love—and their "unbuildable" ideas quietly shaped the technologies we use today.