I suspect the world would be better if that percentage were even greater.
Gutenberg Gem: The Boy Mechanic: Volume 1 by Popular Mechanics
Wow. Very cool to take this step back in time and see what young hackers in 1913 were doing. A lot of lame stuff, but some gems, like a line harmonograph, a “key card” for writing secret codes on post cards, handcutting gears and racks for models, a miniature “Pepper’s Ghost”, and a homemade water wheel. And that’s just in the first hundred pages, there are almost six hundred! Be sure to check out the PDF file.
Comment from Dan Lyke
Time 11/16/2005 at 12:08 pm
Growing up I had a copy of this book, as an adult I was overjoyed to find the Boy Mechanic reprints from Lindsay books, which I have on my shelf.
It was a different time when projects involving welding were things for boys to do in their spare time.