I didn’t have any of those but I DID have a copy of The Way Things Work by David Macaulay, which is an exploration of mechanical concepts demonstrated with adorable illustrations of mammoths. Kinda similar presentation, according to my search.
Oh, cool that’s the one where they joke about the water being scared of the mammoth, so they put ‘walls’ on the boat to prevent it from being seen and therefore the boat floats instead of sinks?
Oh that’s exciting! I hope he loves it as much as I did!
I can’t speak for the revised version, but the original was super engaging when I was a kid (probably got it around 95 or thereabouts, so somewhere in the 6-8 range), but not so serious or complicated as to distract from the whimsy. It’s also educational in a natural language way, which I feel is better for developing interest. It’s not difficult to read.
It’s one of many things that led me to a deep intense curiosity about the world around me!
The revised version is also great. Most of the content is still the same, a nuclear reactor works just the same way as it did in 1995. But most of the IT topics are updated. Instead of a ball mouse you’ll find an optical one, instead of the CRT they explain LCD screens etc.
There’s also a “new”(2016) book in the same style but for science instead of technology. It’s just as good as you’d expect it to be.
I didn’t have any of those but I DID have a copy of The Way Things Work by David Macaulay, which is an exploration of mechanical concepts demonstrated with adorable illustrations of mammoths. Kinda similar presentation, according to my search.
I should get a new (old) copy.
Wow, memory unlocked. Childhood friends had that book, very epic.
The computer mouse image was the greatest. It’s very outdated nowadays, by so fantastic.
Oh, cool that’s the one where they joke about the water being scared of the mammoth, so they put ‘walls’ on the boat to prevent it from being seen and therefore the boat floats instead of sinks?
This was one of my favs growing up too! Thanks for the reminder
I just bought a new copy of that for my nephew for Christmas! Didn’t realize it’s been around for a while.
Oh that’s exciting! I hope he loves it as much as I did!
I can’t speak for the revised version, but the original was super engaging when I was a kid (probably got it around 95 or thereabouts, so somewhere in the 6-8 range), but not so serious or complicated as to distract from the whimsy. It’s also educational in a natural language way, which I feel is better for developing interest. It’s not difficult to read.
It’s one of many things that led me to a deep intense curiosity about the world around me!
The revised version is also great. Most of the content is still the same, a nuclear reactor works just the same way as it did in 1995. But most of the IT topics are updated. Instead of a ball mouse you’ll find an optical one, instead of the CRT they explain LCD screens etc.
There’s also a “new”(2016) book in the same style but for science instead of technology. It’s just as good as you’d expect it to be.