The Way Things Work

"F irst up is the wonderful The Way Things Work by David Macaulay. This encyclopaedic book for kids is full of hand-drawn illustrations and features a mammoth as a recurring motif, adding humour to all the explanations. (As an example, the chapter on friction features an unwilling mammoth having a bath.) There are 400 pages in six main parts, each clearly subdivided: ‘The mechanics of movement’, ‘Harnessing the elements’, ‘Working with waves’, ‘Electricity and automation’, ‘The digital domain’ and ‘The invention of machines’. There is also a glossary of technical terms."