Quite so, I used to rush home as a child with the latest gem of cutting-edge engineering technology to impress my C.Eng father only to be shown where it had been invented years before but usually failed owing to metallurgy.

The only mistake I recall was the chapter in his 1920's university text book by H.E. Wimperis on IC engines that dealt with the gas turbine as just an interesting lab experiment but that could never be an economic or viable power source. . . . . . . . . . .

However, I was fascinated by the discourse on the Humphrey Pump - a liquid piston engine and I see the Aussies have one still working; not bad for a 1901 design.
http://www.fortunecity.com/greenfield/bp/16/hump.htm

R.