Gutenberg Gem: The Boy Mechanic: Volume 1 by Popular Mechanics

November 15, 2005 | Games and Diversions, Gutenberg Gems | By: Mark VandeWettering

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.

Comments

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.