Science

The Way Things Work Now

The Way Things Work Now

  • Downloads：2062
  • Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
  • Create Date：2022-03-20 06:54:31
  • Update Date：2025-09-06
  • Status：finish
  • Author：David Macaulay
  • ISBN：0544824385
  • Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
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Summary

A New York Times Bestseller

Explainer-in-Chief David Macaulay updates the worldwide bestseller The New Way Things Work to capture the latest developments in the technology that most impacts our lives。 Famously packed with information on the inner workings of everything from windmills to Wi-Fi， this extraordinary and humorous book both guides readers through the fundamental principles of machines， and shows how the developments of the past are building the world of tomorrow。 This sweepingly revised edition embraces all of the latest developments， from touchscreens to 3D printer。 Each scientific principle is brilliantly explained--with the help of a charming， if rather slow-witted， woolly mammoth。
 
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 zippers and plows， dentist drills and windmills？ Parking meters and meat grinders， jumbo jets and jackhammers， remote control and rockets， electric guitars and egg beaters？ Macaulay explains them all。
 

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Reviews

Hilson ，

This highly detailed book demonstrates an easy to understand yet in depth explanation for our everyday technology tools。 The vivid pictures in the book attract the reader’s attention to learn more about the technology tool’s usage and principles of the design。 Well suited for young adult reading level and especially high relevance to modern day teenager’s interest， this book demonstrates the importance of engaging and understanding the surroundings around us。

Robert New England ，

packed with information on the inner workings of everything from windmills to Wi-Fi， this extraordinary and humorous book both guides readers through the fundamental principles of machines， and shows how the developments of the past are building the world of tomorrow。This sweepingly revised edition embraces all of the latest developments， from touchscreens to 3D printer。

Karleigh ，

This book has multiple chapters that talk about the way things work and is incredibly detailed。 It talks about things such as the can opener and inclined planes。 It includes many diagrams and tons of pictures to support the text。 The author begins the book by talking about wooly mammoths and they are incorporated throughout the book。 I gave this book 5 stars because it is a really good resource for science classes and for students to get a greater understanding of how things in our world work， f This book has multiple chapters that talk about the way things work and is incredibly detailed。 It talks about things such as the can opener and inclined planes。 It includes many diagrams and tons of pictures to support the text。 The author begins the book by talking about wooly mammoths and they are incorporated throughout the book。 I gave this book 5 stars because it is a really good resource for science classes and for students to get a greater understanding of how things in our world work， from big to small。 This is a great resource to use in the classroom。 。。。more

Jill ，

Divided into 5 main sections - The Mechanics of Movement; Harnessing the Elements; Working with Waves; Electricity and Automation; The Digital Domain - The Way Things Work Now is perfect for curious kids （and adults） who want to know how everything from combine harvesters and telescopes， to toilets and touchscreens work。 It's also beautifully illustrated book。 I must confess though that physics was one of my weaker subjects in school and even though The Way Things Work is meant to be very access Divided into 5 main sections - The Mechanics of Movement; Harnessing the Elements; Working with Waves; Electricity and Automation; The Digital Domain - The Way Things Work Now is perfect for curious kids （and adults） who want to know how everything from combine harvesters and telescopes， to toilets and touchscreens work。 It's also beautifully illustrated book。 I must confess though that physics was one of my weaker subjects in school and even though The Way Things Work is meant to be very accessible， I did struggle to understand the explanations - even for the simplest of machines like nail clippers and locks and keys:"Nail clippers are a neat combination of two levers that produce a strong cutting action while at the same time being easy to control。 The handle is a second-class lever that presses the cutting blades together。 It produces a strong effort on the blades， which form a compound third-class lever。 The cutting edge moves a short distance to overcome the tough resistance of the nail as they slice through it。"I might have to raid the non-fiction section for Junior Readers to help break down physics concepts。 Or re-read Thing Explainer by Randall Munroe。 4 stars for being so comprehensive and beautiful to look at。 。。。more

Rumtin Khorram ，

Haven't read the whole book but have already learned so much。 This book is perfect for someone who just wants to learn more about how things work。 It is very fun to learn with the mammoth。 Having both illustrations and writing about how a thing works helps out a lot。 If you don't understand the writing， you look at the illustration or vise versa， this also helps learn more。 Haven't read the whole book but have already learned so much。 This book is perfect for someone who just wants to learn more about how things work。 It is very fun to learn with the mammoth。 Having both illustrations and writing about how a thing works helps out a lot。 If you don't understand the writing， you look at the illustration or vise versa， this also helps learn more。 。。。more

Mark ，

M。j

Modi123 ，

Re-familiarizing myself with the updates since my childhood version 1。 Still great; still awesome。

Cherei ，

Want the physical versionIf I was only able to take a few books with me。。。 This would be a must have book。 Explains nearly every major development of mankind in ONE place！！ I think I will get this in physical format。

freda lockamy ，

The WOW bookCannot put。down will re-read this over again and again！I'm 74 I love it leaning so muchthanks so much for put it together The WOW bookCannot put。down will re-read this over again and again！I'm 74 I love it leaning so muchthanks so much for put it together 。。。more

Jackson ，

This book is really helpful to show you how everyday things work。

Robert ，

Part of my morning routine was to read a page or two of this book。Took me almost a year， but I finally finished it。Simple and comical explanations of mechanics and inventions。Great way for kids （and adults） to learn how things work。Loved the expanded sections on electronics and computing。

Torrey C ，

Amazing book that everybody should have in their house。 I wish I had this when I was a kid or young adult， but even know I appreciate Kate it immensely。 Well done。

A J ，

contains mammoths

JSL ，

Very cleverly written。 Ch 5， the last chapter， The Digital Domain， p。 310， has a humorous and clever introduction。 Having played with the mammoth throughout the book， using it in various scenarios to demonstrate the principles and inventions being discussed， he is now obsolete， The Last Mammoth。Unfortunately， this book substitutes BCE and CE for BC and AD。 Deduct one star for that affront to Christianity。 End of book has a chapter titled Eureka， where it briefly discusses major inventions throug Very cleverly written。 Ch 5， the last chapter， The Digital Domain， p。 310， has a humorous and clever introduction。 Having played with the mammoth throughout the book， using it in various scenarios to demonstrate the principles and inventions being discussed， he is now obsolete， The Last Mammoth。Unfortunately， this book substitutes BCE and CE for BC and AD。 Deduct one star for that affront to Christianity。 End of book has a chapter titled Eureka， where it briefly discusses major inventions through the centuries， giving time， place and people names。 A dictionary of Technical Terms at the endI read this book on my newest old Kindle Fire because this book will not open on iPad。 Too bad because it was a pain to read it on the smaller Kindle screen。 Also， adding to the frustration， every page needed to be pinched out in order to zoom in on the text to make it readable， requiring a few seconds of wait time for the screen to adjust and focus on the desired text。 A very interesting and enjoyable book but a maddening way to read it。 Why isn’t it downloadable for iPad？？？？？？The five parts of this book are as follows:PART 1 The Mechanics of Movement。PART 2 Harnessing the Elements。PART 3 Working with Waves。PART 4 Electricity & Automation。PART 5 The Digital Domain。Each part is then subdivided into chapters。 An extra chapter at the end is entitled "Eureka！ The Invention of Machines"。 There is also a section of Technical Terms and an Index。 The book is interesting to read and eye candy that is usual for DK books。 The book is written in a humorous style that makes it easy to read and understand complex scientific knowledge。 BUT STILL 。 。 。 This book requires a great deal of thinking。 It taxed my brain to try to understand much of the information。 This is good for me and especially for youngsters， to make them think about how and why things work。This book was reviewed in World magazine on Feb 27 2017。 。。。more

Tanya Martinez ，

Young students are always curious。 They wonder how things are made and why its made。 This book named The Way Things Work Now， written by David Macaulay， is a book filled with information on how to build things and why they are built。 This book is made for children。 It helps engage them to create things， this book is filled with bright colors。

Xia ，

4。4If civilization was to ever fall， with a thorough understanding of this book， it would be possible to one could rebuild it all with just this book。 It holds no bars， and though aimed at children， will likely find it's target audience befuddled if they lack a multidisciplinary engineering background。 It tells you how to build a thermonuclear bomb just as well as how to build a powerplant。 It tells how to build car， a jet plane， and a spaceship and why they are built the way they are。 More impo 4。4If civilization was to ever fall， with a thorough understanding of this book， it would be possible to one could rebuild it all with just this book。 It holds no bars， and though aimed at children， will likely find it's target audience befuddled if they lack a multidisciplinary engineering background。 It tells you how to build a thermonuclear bomb just as well as how to build a powerplant。 It tells how to build car， a jet plane， and a spaceship and why they are built the way they are。 More important than the discrete machincations， it tells you principles that give rise the technologies mentioned above。There are multiple multiple moment of genius which David make apparent such as the revealing of the wheel as a heavily disguised lever。 Or that all rays/electromagnetic radition move at the speed of light。 These little tidbids， specific to the reader， fills in any gaps in understanding between disparate subjects。 There are also moments of ingenius， such as describing bicycle brake calipers and the use of first-class levers for one end， and second-class levers of the other end that doesn't get across。 The image doesn't make it apparent that the semi-flexible sheatjing of the brake wire applies the counteracting force necessary to apply the second-class lever。 That was the only infraction spotted which I couldn't understand without first-hand experience （a posteriori）。 Everything else can be understood a priori。A reader might then find fault with the nature of the printed medium。 As reading and writing are a linear medium， one can't explain technologies of concurrence or multiple interference directly。 The book does its best to arrange a "narrative" where each preceding principle helps build the next but this fails when the technology combines multiple principles， such as a car （levers， pneumatics， hydraulics， pulleys， elastics， wheels etc。） or with atomic fusion （magnetics， electrics， rays， temperature etc。） and especially the digital end （where everything occurs almost at once （or in the case of quantum computers， which aren't covered， where everything does occur at the same time （or not， scientists can't tell）））。Fear not。 The book will explain all， even the parts you can't understand at the first moment， but it will require a patient， inquiring mind， and thorough reading all the way to the end。 A cumulative knowledge will feed into you total understanding later。But this book doesn't contain all knowledge。 What this book does not do is explain materials or detailing。 It called 'How' things work， not 'What' things are。 It describes materials of specific properties， such as steel or ferrous metals， which multiple technologies depend on， of which without civilization-rebuilding would not be possible， but not how to acquire， locate， or synthesize them。 The one exception being the lodestone， which David points out as one of the few naturally occurring permanent magnets。 So yeah。 Get that。 It doesn't go into the nature of textiles （how different weaves work， or the nature of various materials） nor does it explain how human musculature works which would be beneficial to anyone with a moving body。 Another pet peeve is that the image， and often the most important parts， are creased into the bind due to the books enormous size。 I can't think of a solution to this but it does fragment the "reading" of images to some dismay。 The digital section is also highly superficial， but it probably also couldn't be understood if explained it its totality。 And though it teaches the principles of how one can build a rocketship， it leaves the ingenuity of fine-tuning for use， up the reader， which is exactly what it should do as nuclear bomb and a nuclear powerplant are the same things in terms of technology， but it is fine-tuning to the overall application that separates the two。For these neglected topics， search elsewhere。 If I find other sources as comprehensive， I will post them here。 Overall， I immensely enjoyed this book。 It took me four days to read， of which each day was filled with the strained joy of learning， a pain which I haven't felt since I was as computer science/mathematics/engineering undergrad。 But unlike my studies， this strain wasn't due to obfuscation， lack of clarity， or the sifting of verbal chaff。 It was pure information and the most enjoyable type。 It contains information that had taken 25 years to accumulate independently from an uncountable number of disciplines on my end， which David Macaulay has neatly gathered into one spot。 At risk of being overly verbose and opinionated， I wish I had found this book earlier。 。。。more

Bryce Decker ，

This is exactly like all the others in the series except this time with modern products。

R。J。 Southworth ，

If you've ever looked at the technology around you， from your car to your computer to your mains electricity， and wanted to know exactly how it all works， this is the book for you。 It covers just about every commonly used gadget you can think of， breaking it down to the physical principles that make it operate， in a way that's easy to comprehend; the author frequently uses little humorous stories involving woolly mammoths to demonstrate the principles of what he's talking about。 If I had one pro If you've ever looked at the technology around you， from your car to your computer to your mains electricity， and wanted to know exactly how it all works， this is the book for you。 It covers just about every commonly used gadget you can think of， breaking it down to the physical principles that make it operate， in a way that's easy to comprehend; the author frequently uses little humorous stories involving woolly mammoths to demonstrate the principles of what he's talking about。 If I had one problem with this book， it's that the structure - grouping inventions based on their principles rather than their functions - sometimes causes it to skip back and forth， discussing single inventions that utilise multiple principles （e。g。 the car engine） in bits over multiple sections， which can make it harder to grasp the whole product。 But this is still a really informative book which has helped me to look at the world with a bit more understanding， and appreciation for the very smart people that invented all these gadgets in the first place。 。。。more

Arshad Pooloo ，

If I had to gift something to a very curious child， I cannot think of a more appropriate gift than this book。 From wheels， pulleys， zippers， engines to the touchscreen， smartphones， 3D printers and drones， this book has them all illustrated and explained。 Even better they are neatly grouped together and categorized into the followings which make things easier:- Mechanics of Movement- Harnessing the Elements- Working with Waves- Electricity & Automation- The Digital DomainNeither too technical no If I had to gift something to a very curious child， I cannot think of a more appropriate gift than this book。 From wheels， pulleys， zippers， engines to the touchscreen， smartphones， 3D printers and drones， this book has them all illustrated and explained。 Even better they are neatly grouped together and categorized into the followings which make things easier:- Mechanics of Movement- Harnessing the Elements- Working with Waves- Electricity & Automation- The Digital DomainNeither too technical nor too basic this book is filled with big and colorful illustrations which are still very concise and easy to understand。 The illustrations can feel somewhat limiting in some cases but for most of the book does an excellent job of explaining how things work。 Storytelling-wise， I enjoyed the humor infused within the narrative but felt there was a little too much of it。 I feel that maybe the Wolly Mammoth needs to be toned down a little bit。 。。。more

Reeds ，

Great reference， and it doesn't overwhelm you with too much information。 Great reference， and it doesn't overwhelm you with too much information。 。。。more

Sharie ，

Wow！ Thorough， accessible to understand the concepts， fantastic intro to physics， anyone who thinks they might engineer， and so funny！

Mathieu Clément ，

Full disclaimer: I have not read this book entirely yet， but it's perfect as a coffee table book， very nicely illustrated， you can just read a page or two and learn something， and go on your merry way。There are no useless explanations， it's straight to the point。 Which doesn't make it dry， there are still some historical references for example。 Full disclaimer: I have not read this book entirely yet， but it's perfect as a coffee table book， very nicely illustrated， you can just read a page or two and learn something， and go on your merry way。There are no useless explanations， it's straight to the point。 Which doesn't make it dry， there are still some historical references for example。 。。。more

Rui ，

EUREKA！The updated version includes some latest hits in the digit world， e。g。 robots and virtual reality。 All chapters are so interesting。 Everything is so easy to understand！ A must on everyone's bucket reading list！ EUREKA！The updated version includes some latest hits in the digit world， e。g。 robots and virtual reality。 All chapters are so interesting。 Everything is so easy to understand！ A must on everyone's bucket reading list！ 。。。more

Rena ，

Great book that explains how so many varied things work。 Kids of all ages （and adults） will love this。

PottWab Regional Library ，

A

Jennifer ，

Terrific explanations and packed with info。 I'm including this in my physics curriculum （www。guesthollow。com）。 Terrific explanations and packed with info。 I'm including this in my physics curriculum （www。guesthollow。com）。 。。。more

Kat ，

This book explains the inner workings of everything that makes our lives run today。 The Way Things Work explains the inner mechanics and the tools behind everything from electric cars to the way wifi works on everyones phones。 The most special part of this book is the illustrations that go along with all of the inventions and tools described in the book。This book will be great for students in grade 6 and up。 Everything in today's world is so run through technology， especially for the youth， that This book explains the inner workings of everything that makes our lives run today。 The Way Things Work explains the inner mechanics and the tools behind everything from electric cars to the way wifi works on everyones phones。 The most special part of this book is the illustrations that go along with all of the inventions and tools described in the book。This book will be great for students in grade 6 and up。 Everything in today's world is so run through technology， especially for the youth， that it is important that they know how these seemingly common things work。 The illustrations bring the descriptions to life on each page。 Paired book: Built to LastIt is difficult to find a quote in this book because it is mostly filled with diagrams， but I think this book would be a great mentor text on comparing the life we live now and the life people have lived in the past。 。。。more

Mrs。Melaugh Melaugh ，

David Macaulay is a genius at simplifying complex concepts。 In The Way Things Work， he explained how hundreds of examples of technology actually work from simple levers， pulleys， and wheel to complex technology such as automotive transmissions and lasers。 This edition has been revised and updated。 If your library has either of the two previous editions （1998 and 1988）， this is your chance to update。 Changes include added entries on: drones， digital video， blu-ray players， e-readers， and smartpho David Macaulay is a genius at simplifying complex concepts。 In The Way Things Work， he explained how hundreds of examples of technology actually work from simple levers， pulleys， and wheel to complex technology such as automotive transmissions and lasers。 This edition has been revised and updated。 If your library has either of the two previous editions （1998 and 1988）， this is your chance to update。 Changes include added entries on: drones， digital video， blu-ray players， e-readers， and smartphones。 The biggest modernization comes in the chapter on “The Digital Domain”， with the inclusion of new technology such as touchscreens， hard disk storage， barcodes， the world wide web， and speech recognition。 Illustrations by Neil Ardley handily clarify the text。 This is a “must have” resource for all school libraries。 。。。more

Courtney Nipper ，

I loved this book。 It is non-fiction science and teaches about why things work the way they do。 It also includes how this worlds technology got as far as it is today。 I would like to use it in my science classroom。 It answers the "why this" and "why that" that so many kids and young adults are curious about。 It leads to teaching of tech and engineering and I'm betting will bring up many more questions for the future of the progression of technology。 I would use this in varying degrees in upper e I loved this book。 It is non-fiction science and teaches about why things work the way they do。 It also includes how this worlds technology got as far as it is today。 I would like to use it in my science classroom。 It answers the "why this" and "why that" that so many kids and young adults are curious about。 It leads to teaching of tech and engineering and I'm betting will bring up many more questions for the future of the progression of technology。 I would use this in varying degrees in upper elementary， definitely in middle school， and even in high school。 。。。more

Reference

google book https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=The Way Things Work Now

hathitrust digital library https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=The Way Things Work Now&field1=ocr&a=srchls&ft=ft&lmt=ft

The British Library https://bll01.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?query=any,contains,The Way Things Work Now&tab=LibraryCatalog&search_scope=Not_BL_Suppress&vid=44BL_INST:BLL01&lang=en&offset=0