Clock This: My Life as an Inventor - Softcover

However, after a childhood set against the backdrop of war-torn London--a veritable playground for Baylis and his buddies--and a life as an affluent teenager with 4 pounds per week, an apprenticeship with a soil engineering firm and one day a week day-release to study for a certificate in engineering, Baylis quickly found his feet in the real world.

But there is much more to him than an engineering prodigy who struck lucky. Indeed, his life has to date been well and truly less ordinary. A world-class swimmer who narrowly missed qualifying for the Olympics, and who then, incredibly, found his fins by demonstrating swimming pools and later by flirting with the circus, Baylis' sense of showmanship has certainly stood him in good stead for the later developments in his life that have brought him much publicity, an OBE, visiting professorships at numerous universities and a trip down memory lane as the victim of This is Your Life.

Clock This is the autobiography of a man whose infectious enthusiasm, dedication and humour have shone through every aspect of his life, and it certainly makes for an entertaining read. But through the effervescence of his writing Baylis also inspires, and indeed almost dares, the reader to sit down, think and create for themselves. He reckons that: "As long as you've got slightly more perception than the average wrapped loaf, you could invent something." So, what's stopping you? --Susan Harrison