Way Things Work, the New - Softcover

Macaulay, David

4.26

2,020 ratings by Goodreads

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0751356433 ISBN 13: 9780751356434

Publisher: Dorling Kindersley Publishers Ltd, 1998

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Did you know that the principle behind the zip fastener also governed the building of the pyramids? Did you know that the dentist's drill is a direct descendant of the first windmill? Did you realise that for a computer to carry out complex tasks it first has to convert information into simple numerical codes? These are some of the fascinating connections made by David Macaulay in this brilliant original yet highly accessible guide to the workings of machines. Employing all the skills of imagination and draughtsmanship that have brought him a prize-winning international reputation David Macaulay has created and now updated an outstanding book for anyone who wants to understand how things work and would like to be stimulated and entertained in the process. David Macaulay not only demonstrates how machines do what they do - from the simplest lever to the far-reaching capabilities of the Internet - he also shows how the concept behind one invention is linked to the concept behind another. Using the humorous analogy of a woolly mammoth to illustrate principles he offers even the least technically-minded reader a window of understanding into the complexities of today's technology. The New Way Things Work is arranged in five sections. Together they provide comprehensive coverage of the workings of hundreds of machines and devices - holograms helicopters airliners mobile phones compact discs hard disks bits and bytes and cash machines. They also provide explanations of the scientific principles behind each machine - how gears make work easier why jumbo jets are able to fly how computers actually compute. The New Way Things Work has been conceived for readers of all ages. It has especially been designed for those who find technology intimidating and who wish it were less so. For them David Macaulay's beguiling treatment of the subject offers access to knowledge in the most captivating manner while at the same time making the discovery seem like fun.

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Review:

"Is it a fact--or have I dreamt it--that, by means of electricity, the world of matter has become a great nerve, vibrating thousands of miles in a breathless point of time?" If you, like Nathaniel Hawthorne, are kept up at night wondering about how things work--from electricity to can openers--then you and your favourite kids shouldn't be a moment longer without David Macaulay's The New Way Things Work. The award-winning author-illustrator--a former architect and high school teacher--is perfectly poised to be the Great Explainer of the whirrings and whizzings of the world of machines, a talent that landed the 1988 version of The Way Things Work on the New York Times bestsellers list for 50 weeks. Grouping machines together by the principles that govern their actions rather than by their uses, Macaulay helps us understand in a heavily visual, humorous, unerringly precise way what gadgets such as a toilet, a carburettor and a fire extinguisher have in common.

The New Way Things Work boasts a richly illustrated 80-page section that wrenches us all (including the curious, bumbling woolly mammoth who ambles along with the reader) into the digital age of modems, digital cameras, compact disks, bits, and bytes. Readers can glory in gears in "The Mechanics of Movement," investigate flying in "Harnessing the Elements," demystify the sound of music in "Working with Waves," marvel at magnetism in "Electricity & Automation," and examine e-mail in "The Digital Domain." An illustrated survey of significant inventions closes the book, along with a glossary of technical terms, and an index. What possible link could there be between zips and ploughs, dentist drills and windmills? Parking meters and meat grinders, jumbo jets and jackhammers, remote control and rockets, electric guitars and egg beaters? Macaulay demystifies them all. (Ages 9 to adult)

Review:

"The Way Things Work is a superb achievement. It is a very handsome book, a fascinating collection of riddles and a sound educational accomplishment that, while explaining in words and pictures - mostly pictures - some of the mysteries of physics, makes you smile, and often laugh. The author is honest enough to say that the book was intended for children of all ages, and brilliant enough to make all its readers feel brighter than they ever thought they could be."

"A book to be treasured as both a browsing item and as a gold mine of reference information."

"This is a work of mammoth imagination, energy, and humor. It justifies every critic's belief that information and entertainment are not mutually exclusive - good nonfiction is storytelling at its best."

"An astonishing tour-de-force, three years in the making, by the architect-turned-author who has given us Cathedral and City...Large, clear, complete drawings...contain unexpected little details providing hours of enlightenment and discovery."

"Keep the book a secret from your kids for a while and study up on the explanations of questions you're anticipating. Let Macaulay make you look smarter than you think you are. The kids will certainly be impressed - and you'll be getting a real education in the bargain."

"Combining the tongue-in-cheek observations of a budding prehistoric engineer with acute descriptions of the functioning of mechanical and electrical machines, Macaulay has produced a superb volume.... Macaulay's unusual ability to focus, distill, organize, and convey information through his art has never been so impressively displayed."

"The Way Things Work is not the only book that has tried to explain modern mysteries, but it's the best. Macaulay's explanations are lucid; they are also fun. He includes visual puns, running jokes, a cast of thousands of tiny participants in on and around the machines, choirs of angels and lots of big woolly mammoths." Boston Globe
"Keep the book a secret from your kids for a while and study up on the explanations of questions you're anticipating. Let Macaulay make you look smarter than you think you are. The kids will certainly be impressed - and you'll be getting a real education in the bargain." The Los Angeles Times
"The Way Things Work is a superb achievement. It is a very handsome book, a fascinating collection of riddles and a sound educational accomplishment that, while explaining in words and pictures - mostly pictures - some of the mysteries of physics, makes you smile, and often laugh. The author is honest enough to say that the book was intended for children of all ages, and brilliant enough to make all its readers feel brighter than they ever thought they could be." The New York Times
"This is a work of mammoth imagination, energy, and humor. It justifies every critic's belief that information and entertainment are not mutually exclusive - good nonfiction is storytelling at its best." The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, Starred
"Combining the tongue-in-cheek observations of a budding prehistoric engineer with acute descriptions of the functioning of mechanical and electrical machines, Macaulay has produced a superb volume.... Macaulay's unusual ability to focus, distill, organize, and convey information through his art has never been so impressively displayed." Horn Book, Starred
"An astonishing tour-de-force, three years in the making, by the architect-turned-author who has given us Cathedral and City...Large, clear, complete drawings...contain unexpected little details providing hours of enlightenment and discovery." Kirkus Reviews with Pointers
"A book to be treasured as both a browsing item and as a gold mine of reference information." School Library Journal, Starred

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