An informative, entertaining compendium explaining the physical principles behind everyday technology unfolds one-and-two-page captioned visual explanations organized in four sections: Mechanics of Movement; Harnessing the Elements; Working With Waves; and Electricity and Automation. A fictional great wooly mammoth, several winged angels and other humorous devices add a dimension of whimsy without blurring the clear distinction between fantasy and fact. (Age 5-adult)

As seen on CBS News Sunday Morning.

Explainer-in-Chief David Macaulay updates his worldwide bestseller to capture the latest developments in the technology that most impacts our lives. What possible link could there be between parking meters and meat grinders, jumbo jets and jackhammers, remote control and rockets, electric guitars and egg beaters? Macaulay explains them all!

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 blocks of the world of tomorrow. This sweepingly revised edition embraces recent technological developments, from touchscreens to 3D printers. 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.

A New York Times Bestseller