Reddit reviews The New Way Things Work

the 3 people above me should do themselves a favor and get this book

I always recommend The Way Things Work. Not just math, but applied math, engineering, physics, etc.. All done in a way that a 13 year old will get.

In no particular order I will list what my parents gave me that doomed me to a life of engineering. Granted, some of these things are pretty pricey, so I'd go for the book as a starter. Don't worry the book is awesome and full of mammoths.

Capsela : Amazing modular design tools that lets you neat little machines.

Robotix : Slightly more futuristic where you can build your own robot. I actually had a 2 foot dinosaur on wheels that I could drive around and make 'roar'.

Legos : This seems pretty standard.

The New Way Things Work by David Macaulay : A great book I got around the age of 5 that I forced people to read to me

K'Nex, Erector Sets, and a grandfather who happens to be a carpenter can also help.

Firstly, fucking adorable.

Secondly, buy her this:

http://www.amazon.com/The-New-Way-Things-Work/dp/0395938473

Spanish version: http://imgur.com/RRJ4V.jpg , some of the character generation ideas have been reused.

Looks like there is a new version around, it's been honorably added to my wish list. http://www.amazon.com/New-Way-Things-Work/dp/0395938473

There are lots of chemistry sets out there. Also, the toy rockets that you build and launch - tons of different kits with different difficulty levels.

Oh, and I always liked these books - The Way Things Work and The New Way Things Work

As a kid at that age I loved, "The way things work".

http://www.amazon.com/The-New-Way-Things-Work/dp/0395938473

National Geographic's Big Book of Why is good. They also have other great science books. So it Time's Big Book of How.

Time, National Geographic and other companies do kid's almanacs that are great. My kid and his friends still devour them.

The Magic Schoolbus books are a good place to start.

Girls Think of Everything is a great book on women inventors.

The Way Things Work is great.

Sick Science Kits are neat. But I think younger kids might need a little oversight.

Get a copy of The Way Things Work and pretend you're on wikipedia.

The font and illustrative style reminds me of The Way Things Work by David Macaulay, except there are no mammoths.

My favorite book as a kid, by the way.

You should buy your son this book:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/1406322229/


I believe he would enjoy it immensely. I know I enjoyed reading The Way Things Work when I was his age. (Note that the latter link goes to the 2nd edition. I read the first edition.)

Used copies shipped for under $5:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/0395938473/ref=tmm_hrd_used_olp_sr?ie=UTF8&condition=used&qid=&sr=

The Way Things Work is pretty awesome.

YES! Just gave my copy to my nephew, but then I realized it horribly out of date and they made a new one!

This is such a fun book for learning a wide array of basic scientific principles.

I was lucky enough to stumble on Logic Gates while reading David Macaulay's amazing "The Way Things Work." I probably learned more from that book than I did in high school (Well, maybe not quite). It certainly was more interesting.

Something about them has always fascinated me though, ever since I saw them in his book. The idea that you can make all these gates, gates that do basic logic operations with electric signals, just by wiring a few transistors (and a diode or two I think?) together blows my mind. And then that you can take those gates and build...computers basically. That's what chips are (mostly at least): piles and piles of gates crammed into an incomprehensibly small space.

The fact that I could buy a cheap pile of transistors, diodes etc from radioshack, wire them together and build a calculator, from scratch, drove me crazy as a kid (in a good way). Still does.

Not an engineer, but I did love this book when I was a kid.

The Way Things Work looks like a good choice. There's an updated version... from 1998. Well, I guess physics don't update that often, so it's all good.

http://www.amazon.com/The-New-Way-Things-Work/dp/0395938473/ref=pd_sim_b_2?ie=UTF8&refRID=1D5PAH7X04JQNKQ0DQD9

Perhaps the book The Way Things Work? I loved this book when I was a kid.

The Way Things Work FTW! There's a sequel that just came out, too. Must put it on my Christmas list.

Were there mammoths? Could be The New Way Things Work

http://www.amazon.com/The-New-Way-Things-Work/dp/0395938473

It's hard to define great nonfiction books because they're not books kids cherish and read for years to come. The books are severely limited by the target age of the reader. Whereas, I'm sure my daughter will still own her Harry Potter set when she's 25-years-old.

1. A Street Through Time (Mostly pictures, but fascinating. There's also A City Through Time.)
   
   
2. Castle part of a series, similar to A Street Through Time, but black-and-white.
   
   
3. The (New) Way Things Work by the Castle author, although maybe too advanced for a 7-year-old.
   
   
4. Stephen Biesty's Incredible series -- Meticulous drawings and small print notes breaking down objects and processes.... the interior of a race car, the architectural sections of a cathedral, how wigs are made, how medieval armor is made, etc.
   
   
5. National Geographic Young Explorers. Specifically, the books from the 1980s found now at thrift stores. It seems every school and library once carried them. Maybe written too young for a 7-year-old, not sure. See if your library still carries the series.
   
   
6. Other multi-part 'How does X work?' books. I have one out-of-print series in mind I'll pull the title from after my kids are at school.
   
   
7. Ranger Rick magazine. Here's a Flash preview magazine. It has no advertising. In comparison, NatGeo Kids is packed with advertising and pop culture articles that have nothing to do with geography or the natural world. Tip: Google Ranger Rick and click the Google Ad to subscribe for $15 instead of $20.
   

working with a microcontroller will be a good way to have hands on learning about electronics backed up by your programming skill.

You could also look at the kids book http://www.amazon.com/The-New-Way-Things-Work/dp/0395938473. It has mammoths, and is pretty fun, alongside being quite descriptive of the innards of technology. This is an update to the one I had. I still enjoy looking at my copy, and my son liked it when he was 4.

The Way Things Work

Love those books.

Depending on how old you are if you saw it growing up, it could have been [The Way Things Work] (https://www.amazon.com/New-Way-Things-Work/dp/0395938473) or possibly the How Stuff Works [book itself] (https://www.amazon.com/How-Stuff-Works-Marshall-Brain/dp/0785824324/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1491399864&sr=1-1&keywords=how+stuff+works)

Did you mean this? This book was my favorite when I was a kid

I've been custom building and working in shops since I was... well technically too young to be legally employable.

Emily Dickinson factors in here: "The heart wants what it wants, or else it does not care".

​

As a competitive BMXer, my bent toward building was a product of necessity: I'd have a bike I liked, typically upgraded the cranks right out of the box, and would replace parts as I broke them, or as parts I liked the look of would be offered in trade from other bmxdiots. BMX kids aren't known for the depth of their pockets (maybe their individual parents are, but not the bmxdiot himself). So I learned valuable technical skills, and did what I had to do to keep my wheels spinning.

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Fast forward a few surgeries later:

I have short extremities for my height, so once I got over my prejudice toward spandex and drop bars, Building up my Allez was basically a necessity, because I have a bent for shorter cranks and stem than most people my size. I also have very wide shoulders, which means wider bars than most people my size.

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However, A Cannondale F29 (alloy, lefty fork) in size large fit me just fine out of the box, so I bought it, raced it, crashed it, killed it, and loved the living hell out of it while I still had it. Hated the bland colors, but I feel that made me more competitive because I wasn't afraid to chip the paint.

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I'm a pro mechanic and I have been for years, one of the primary benefits to building is aesthetic. My Allez looks like something out of TRON or Rainbow Brite. I've also swapped the group on it multiple times. A close second is fit. For me, personally, It's all about the thrill of the build. In fact I frequently get bored with bikes once I get them dialed in. Coincidentally, This is the first book my parents ever got me. And it made an impression.

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If you absolutely need your bike to be one of a kind, you have no choice but to build. If you absolutely have to have the latest and greatest fighter jet for racing purposes, out of the box options like SWORKS and things like Cannondale's Black INC are gonna be your go to.

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Also, for clarification for those who do need to limit their budget: What I haven't factored in so far, is that I'm a trained professional and an expert when it comes to bicycle fuckery. I know exactly what I am doing when it comes to part compatibility, and specialty tools. This is how hotrods work! Hot rod culture came out of skilled, but underprivileged kids who had more hard earned knowledge than money for a fast car. If you don't have the skills, or the time (and primarily) humility to learn them, the path of least resistance (and lowest cost) to a sub 11 second quarter mile is to buy an off the showroom sports car.

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EDIT: Hope this helps and Keep Kickin'

The New Way Things Work

If you're ok with used, you can pick one up for less than $5 on Amazon

The New Way Things Work

Can't resist adding a few book suggestions - he's a bit young but I think you two would enjoy looking through something like David MacAulay's Way Things Work. A book of science questions and answers might be fun too, like How Come? or National Geographic's Why?; there's an equivalent for younger kids too but sounds like you guys might prefer the big kids version. Mistakes that Worked is another great book.

I recently bought the updated version after seeing a post like this a while ago. Here is a link to Amazon.

for me it was this minus the 'new'

I love this idea. However, I can't think of any that I know of aside from ones that I find through Googling "kids science magazines." I do, however, know a pretty neat book that I read as a child that really opened my mind to the way things worked (I assume this newer version is just as good). From what I remember, it doesn't really delve into stuff like religion, but satisfies that curiosity every kid probably had at one point regarding the why of everything. I can't say that this is what made me become as scientifically-minded as I am now, but I can say that this was a start.

Also your nephew will develop a strange love for mammoths.

Gotta get 'em this book:

http://www.amazon.com/The-New-Way-Things-Work/dp/0395938473

This? New Way Things Work by David Macaulay

Older version was one of my favorite books as a child. Got few others on electricity, lasers, optics and such specifically. Best... thing...ever! Sparked my interest in, well, everything :)

If you like the advise if the comment above you, check out this book , "the way things work" it's under teen and young adult section but I (31, M.D) still check it every now and again because it explains how things work in a great and informative way, from a simple slope to a computer and everything in between.

It's a great starting point on each topic and once you get the basics of say a motor you can google and wikipedia the particular aspects that interest you the most.

Like I said, people are not ignorant, just lazy. I was implying that a parent ought to impart the mental tools needed to explore the world themselves.

I was taught to read and to ask questions. My parents played the "why" game with me till I was so invested in my stubbornness that they handed me an "encyclopedia for kids" and I actually read it.

I started reading this when I was in the 2nd grade. Reading on and off again I finished it in the 4th grade. The Way Things Work.

newer version: The New Way Things Work

So, I think the book ya'll were deprived of this wonder in your childhoods, The Way Things Work

Gorgeous illustration, combined with diagrams that a 5 year old can understand, i5's a great way to learn some basic science!