The Way Things Work [pdf, scan, ocr] (Prepper)

The Way Things Work.

590 pp, 1967, illustrated, index.

Have you read Lucifer's Hammer by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle? This book is one that Niven/Pournelle specifically mention by name that the character Dr. Forrester preserves in his stash.

In a way, this is not so much a book for preppers as it is for rebuilding civilization. But preppers will find it valuable for explaining a concept before a repair or starting a build. This book has a solid position in my top ten list of prepper books.

Scanned and text pages were OCR'd. Large file size but I think the detailed color illustrations are worth it. See the sample pages.

From the Foreword:
When it was originally published, in Germany, this book was called Wie funktioniert das? (How Does It Work?). That question remains the key to the purpose and layout of the book. Here you will find the answer to the question posed by the inquisitive child who wants to know how a vacuum cleaner or a refrigerator works, or by you yourself, puzzled by the complexities of lasers or the secrets of Polaroid color photography. A page of descriptive text faces the coloured drawing to which it refers. Certain common principles have prompted the grouping on successive pages of related machines in which these principles are applied. Thus, for example, an entry on Light introduces a group of entries running in sequence from lenses and telescopes to cameras and colour television, etc. The various subjects are shown in the list of contents, overleaf, and may prove useful for crossreference purposes. In addition, there is a full index at the end of the book, in which both machines and topics are listed alphabetically.

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