Vacuum Bazookas, Electric Rainbow Jelly, and 27 Other Saturday Science Projects.
Downie runs a weird-science club in England that, through the construction of Goldbergian gadgets, teaches kids the physical principles behind technology. In these recipes, he exhibits a playful attitude that disarms any hesitation about cannibalizing everyday stuff--radio-controlled toys, for example--for the quite basic gear that many of Downie's projects require. Most illustrate the physics of waves or mechanics, and for the hard-core gadgeteer, Downie appends to each project an explanation of the mathematics describing what's going on with, say, a rotating, ribless umbrella, but every project is built around inspiring delight and wonder. There is an upgrade of the classic cups-and-string telecom technology, which Downie calls the string radio. He illustrates the basic idea of modern smart-bomb warfare in the shape of a (perfectly safe) guided carpet missile, and throughout he sprinkles a number of amusingly useless labor-saving devices: Anybody need a string-driven nutcracker? A fertile and funny idea-book for the Erector set crowd.Gilbert TaylorCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.