The information age is upon us, baffling us with thousands of complicated state-of-the-art technologies. To help make sense of the computer age, David Macaulay brings us The New Way Things Work. This completely updated and expanded edition describes twelve new machines and includes more than seventy new pages detailing the latest innovations. With an entirely new section that guides us through the complicated world of digital machinery, where masses of electronic information can be squeezed onto a single tiny microchip, this revised edition embraces all of the newest developments, from cars to watches. Each scientific principle is brilliantly explained--with the help of a charming, if rather slow-witted, woolly mammoth.
New Way Things Work ANNOTATION Text and numerous detailed illustrations introduce and explain the scientific principles and workings of hundreds of machines. Includes new material about digital technology.
FROM THE PUBLISHER The information age is upon us, baffling us with thousands of complicated state-of-the-art technologies. To help make sense of the computer age, David Macaulay brings us The New Way Things Work. This completely updated and expanded edition describes twelve new machines and includes more than seventy new pages detailing the latest innovations. With an entirely new section that guides us through the complicated world of digital machinery, where masses of electronic information can be squeezed onto a single tiny microchip, this revised edition embraces all of the newest developments, from cars to watches. Each scientific principle is brilliantly explained--with the help of a charming, if rather slow-witted, woolly mammoth. SYNOPSIS Ever wondered how the Internet and computers really work but assumed that you wouldn't understand? Did you know that the principle behind the zipper also governed the building of the pyramids? Did you know that the dentist's drill is a direct descendant of the first windmill? David Macaulay has been known as a master explainer ever since the originalThe Way Things Work was published, in 1988. Now he's back with a new edition that includes tons of new material, such as "The Digital Domain," which explains how computers store, process, send, and use information. From movie cameras to virtual reality, flush toilets to photocopiers, Macaulay explains it all.
FROM THE CRITICS Los Angeles Times 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. Boston Globe 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.
New York Times Book 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. Horn Book Magazine 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. "A book to be treasured as both a browsing item and as a gold mine of reference information."Read all 6 "From The Critics" >
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