Boy Mechanic: 700 Things for Boys to Do/Book 1

by Unknown

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• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0917914880
• ISBN13: 9780917914881
• Release Date: November 1989
• Publisher: Lindsay Pubns
• Weight: 1.25 lbs.
• Age Range: 10 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 5 and higher

Customer Reviews

Before "The Way Things Work" there was "The Boy Mechanic"

I am glad to see that the book has been reprinted. Someone has saved me the trouble as I was hell bent on having it republished if I had to do it myself. The original books were printed in the early "teens" of the twentieth century (the first book printed in 1913 if memory serves). For those of you who loved the reprinting of the old Sears catalogue, or admire ingenuity or are mechanically inclined you will love this book. I guess truth be told it is my opinion that everyone will love this book. Page after page is filled with projects ,some of them being quite advanced, on how to create devices-from building a better mouse trap, to building a working airplane that will fit a human flier to casting a suit of armor. Most of the instructions are complete with line drawings (some of them quite artfully done) that reflect the times in which the book was first published. The books came in three volumes and are a product of their times when inventors were revered and Thomas Edison was still very active. Apart from it being very practical (there are some solutions to modern day problems still found within these pages) it is a testament to the inventiveness of the human mind. In a way in these days when everything is made out of plastic and the working parts under an automobile hood are hidden under a factory seal it can be taken today as a type of manifesto. My father had these books and I remember to this day the occasions when he would take them out and unwrap them and how I would carefully leaf through them page by crumbling page like some great holy manuscript. Reading this book led me to a fascination with such things as cable cars and other devices I would assemble as a child that would stretch across our family living room. It also help me to establish a love of science. To this day when I am looking for a solution in a laboratory where I am working I will sometimes look though The Boy Mechanic for some inspiration. Fascinating for the adult and an absolute gift to older children and young adults. Highly recommended Jim Connell "Hallstatt Prince"

My 13 year old boy has discovered this book!

I bought my sons the "Backyard Ballistics" book last year, and this book was mentioned. You cannot imagine how excited my 13 year old was to find that this book was still in print! I remember blowing things up with my brothers (much to the annoyance of my mother when my brother blew his eyebrows off from a miscalculated fuse length, and much to the irritation of my father to find half his black powder being used to make homemade incendiary devices). We will be using it for a science project. :) Thankfully we have a big backyard and my sons will be supervised much more than I was as a kid. Don't forget your safety glasses!

My All-Time Favorite Books!

Forty years ago, the only reason I went to the library was to look through the Boy Mechanic books to pick a new project. I don't remember copy machines, so I think I must have copied my projects out by hand. I moved away from that town, and my new home library did not have the books. Thirty years later I went back to visit that original library in St. George, Utah, and was horrified to find the 3-volume set of the Boy Mechanic books had disappeared! I'm happy to see the reprints -- God bless you, you crazy people at Lindsay Publications!

The return of "The Boy Maniac"

I spent countless hours dreaming over projects in "The Boy Mechanic," most of which were deemed too dangerous to build by my mother, who called the book "The Boy Maniac." She pitched it out when I moved out years ago, and I'm delighted to see that it has been reprinted to become the bane of mothers for another generation and more!