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From: Paul S Person <psperson@old.netcom.invalid>
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Subject: Re: Request for a recommendation.
Date: Thu, 03 Oct 2024 09:37:44 -0700
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On Wed, 2 Oct 2024 17:35:46 -0400, Tony Nance <tnusenet17@gmail.com>
wrote:

>On 10/2/24 10:33 AM, William Hyde wrote:
>>=20
>> I am looking for a book which will interest a 12 year old kid who is=20
>> fascinated by things mechanical.
>>=20
>> The kind of kid who used to take clocks apart and put them back =
together=20
>> still working (when that was possible), build a telescope or put=20
>> together a radio, that sort of thing.
>>=20
>> I remember seeing such a book and wishing I'd had it when I was twelve=
=20
>> myself, but I don't recall the name or author.
>>=20
>> As for myself, that clock never worked again, so I'm not much of a=20
>> mentor here.
>>=20
>> William Hyde
>
>My son is an engineer, and 4 of my nieces/nephews are also engineers,=20
>and when they were young, every one of them loved the book "The Way=20
>Things Work" by David Macaulay. I'm just a math guy, but I enjoyed=20
>flipping through it as well.
>
>In looking for that title, I see he has also written a second book=20
>called "The New Way Things Work". I am unfamiliar with that book.

Judging from
<https://www.amazon.com/New-Way-Things-Work/dp/0395938473#:~:text=3DTo%20=
help%20make%20sense%20of%20the%20computer%20age,%20David%20Macaulay>,
it adds 12 new machines -- including digital machinery.

Well, digital computers as of 1998, anyway. But basics are basics,
after all.

It may also have updates on items discussed in the original (cars and
watches are mentioned, and surely they were in the original).

It is being advertised as an updated version of the original, not a
second volume in a series.

Some might be interested in a price inversion: the paperback costs
/more/ than the hardcover.

And here we have
<https://www.amazon.com/Way-Things-Work-Now-dp-0544824385/dp/0544824385/r=
ef=3Ddp_ob_title_bk>,
a new version dated 2023.

It apparently extends the tech to touchscreens and 3D printers. No
doubt other recently introduced items are there as well.

Continuing the price-inversion tradition, the Kindle edition (unless
you belong to KindleUnlimited) costs more than the hardcover.

The original from 1988
<https://www.amazon.com/Way-Things-Work-David-Macaulay/dp/0395428572/ref=3D=
pd_bxgy_d_sccl_2/142-6944350-7921335?pd_rd_w=3DBUSrl&content-id=3Damzn1.s=
ym.f7fa8b58-6436-47b8-8741-9e90c231669e&pf_rd_p=3Df7fa8b58-6436-47b8-8741=
-9e90c231669e&pf_rd_r=3DYHW81NGTD74KVZB0R9QT&pd_rd_wg=3DwmYbJ&pd_rd_r=3D2=
fefd4c5-6629-437f-ae7a-31f560538b43&pd_rd_i=3D0395428572&psc=3D1>
also has the hardcover costing less than the paperback.

Also in the same tradition of price inversion is
<https://www.amazon.com/Way-Things-Work-Kit/dp/078946506X/ref=3Dtmm_other=
_meta_binding_swatch_0?_encoding=3DUTF8&qid=3D&sr=3D>
with 12 models and a CD-ROM to explore machines in (I presume) a
hands-on manner.

This makes me wonder: are Hardcover books falling out of favor to the
point that Paperbacks (presumably Trade Paperbacks) command a premium?
--=20
"Here lies the Tuscan poet Aretino,
Who evil spoke of everyone but God,
Giving as his excuse, 'I never knew him.'"