Adventures from the Technology Underground: Catapults, Pulsejets, Rail Guns, Flamethrowers, Tesla Coils, Air Cannons, and the Garage Warriors Who Love Them
What is the technology underground? According to engineer and technology consultant Gurstelle, it's a community of like-minded amateurs--inventors, mostly, although some of them might more accurately be characterized as daredevils. Men and women who have devoted their lives to the things that conventional science has dismissed as unworkable, impractical, or just plain pointless. Flying cars, for example, or newfangled catapults, air guns, and flamethrowers. Or fighting robots and, of course, LDRS (large and dangerous rocket ships). The author explores not only the people who devise these wondrous new inventions but also the technological wizardry behind them: every chapter features illustrations and technical explanations of the devices discussed within. The writing is a bit scattershot, alternating frequently between clunky ("it is reasonable to outline, at the outset of a conceptualization or a project, the rules of conformance") and the outright funny: after describing an early flying-car design, the author deadpans, "It never got off the ground." But the book's target audience won't be bothered by the prose. They will be looking for adventure, excitement, and really wild stuff. They won't be disappointed.David PittCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved--This text refers to theHardcoveredition.