The New Way Things Work

The man-made world is complex, and the way things work is usually a big mystery. But after reading David Macauley's ingeniously-illustrated The New Way Things Work, you'll see that many of the complicated machines and systems around you are based on fairly-easy-to-understand principles.

David Macauly, an architect and former junior high school teacher uses whimsical but light-bulb-over-the-head inducing illustrations to explain the principles behind toilet tanks, automatic transmissions, ball point pens, bookbinding, musical instruments, nuclear energy, digital computers, holography, batteries, can openers, and dozens of other everyday things that make modern life so pleasant.

There's a lifetime worth of education between the covers of this 400-page book. Every time I open it, I feel a deep respect for the unknown geniuses of the world who have made things so wonderful for us fat and lazy consumers. $23.10 on Amazon