When I was just a kid, there was a book called “The Way Things Work” that I used to pore over with complete delight. It was a 1967 translation into English of a 1963 German book called “Wei Funktioniert das?” In 581 pages, the book explained how several hundred disparate technologies work — everything from the centrifuge to the television to the electron microscope, from electric motors to jet engines to gyroscopes to door locks to how plexiglass is made.
Each topic got two pages: first a page to explain things in words, then a facing page filled with beautiful two-color illustrations. Some topics were strung together in order. For example, you could learn about principles of light refraction and reflection, then lenses and mirrors, then microscopes, telescopes and binoculars, then all sorts of topics around cameras and photography, with each little bite-sized lesson preparing you for the one that followed.
I am quite sure that having this book by my side not only taught me about many ingenious technologies (oh my gosh, the Eidophor projector!!!) but also shaped the way I look at invention in general, bolstering my confidence, at an early age, to go forth and invent.
I have no idea where that actual book from my childhood is now. Fortunately, it’s still possible to get your hands on a copy of this long out of print masterpiece. I ordered a used copy recently on Amazon — it is sitting beside me as I type this. You might want to consider getting one for your favorite intrepid ten year old — or perhaps for the intrepid ten year old in you.
I remember that book too!
It could use an update though. Drop: Cathode ray tube, light bulb, film camera; Add: mobile phone, microprocessor, packet switched network.
Back then it was possible to take things apart and understand how they worked. Even with electronic gizmos up through the ’70s it was possible to look at the part numbers and track down a datasheet explaining what was happening.
By now that’s gone; today most of the magic hides under a blob of black epoxy. Fortunately, a whole industry has arisen teaching people to make their own magic blobs.
I have that exact edition, from my childhood! I just pulled it off the shelf to look at the copyright date. I guess my mother must have given it to me at some point. I haven’t looked at it in years.
I *still* have my dad’s copy.
There was an updated, 2 volume version published later. Still have those too.
I also have my dad’s copies of ‘Knaurs Bastelbuch’ (1959) and ‘Knaurs Lexicon’ (1931/54). Before I could read I would study the pictures. I taught myself how to read German using these books.