Written for reasonable risk takers and suburban dads who want to add more excitement to their lives, this daring combination of science, history, and DIY projects explains why danger is good for you and details the art of living dangerously. All of the projects--from throwing knives, drinking absinthe, and eating fugu to cracking a bull whip, learning baritsu, and building a flamethrower--have short learning curves; are human-focused, as opposed to technology-centric; are affordable; and demonstrate true but reasonable risk. The guide maintains that risk takers are more successful, more interesting individuals who lead more fulfilling lives. "What would the world be like if Thomas Edison retired after 30 years" "working for the railroad," it asks, "instead of getting fired for blowing up a rail car with one of his experiments?" Though the manual doesn't advocate getting fired, it does reveal that making black powder is pure excitement. Unlike watching an action movie or playing a video game, real, edgy life experience changes a person. Each potentially life-altering project includes step-by-step directions and illustrations along with sidebar tips from experts in the field.

Written for reasonable risk takers and suburban dads who want to add excitement to their lives, this daring combination of science, history, and DIY projects explains why danger is good for you, and details the art of living dangerously.

The technology underground is a thriving, humming, and often literally scintillating subculture of amateur inventors and scientific envelope-pushers who dream up, design, and build machines that whoosh, rumble, fly—and occasionally hurl pumpkins across enormous distances. In the process they astonish us with what is possible when human imagination and ingenuity meet nature’s forces and materials. William Gurstelle spent two years exploring the most fascinating outposts of this world of wonders: meeting and talking to the men and women who care far more for the laws of physics than they do for mundane matters like government regulations and their own personal safety. Adventures from the Technology Underground is Gurstelle’s lively and weirdly compelling report of his travels. In these pages we meet Frank Kosdon and others who draw the scrutiny of the FAA, ATF, and other federal agencies in their pursuit of high-power amateur rocketry, which they demonstrate to impressive—and sometimes explosive—effect at the annual LDRS gathering held in various remote and unpopulated areas (a necessary consideration since that acronym stands for Large Dangerous Rocket Ships). Here also are the underground technologists who turn up at the Burning Man festival in the Nevada high desert, including Lucy Hosking, “the engineer from Hell” and the creator of Satan’s Calliope, aka the World’s Loudest Thing, a pipe organ made from jet engines. Also at Burning Man is Austin “Dr. MegaVolt” Richard, who braves the arcing, sputtering, six-digit voltages of a giant Tesla coil in his protective metal suit. Add in a trip to see medieval-style catapults, air cannons, and supersized slingshots in action at the World Championship Punkin Chunkin competition in Sussex County, Delaware, and forays to the postapocalyptic enclaves of the flamethrower builders and the future-noir pits of the fighting robots, and you have proof positive that the age of invention is still going strong. In the world of science and engineering, despite its buttoned-down image, there’s plenty of fun, humor, and sheer wonder to be found at the fringes. Adventures from the Technology Underground takes you there. • Launch homemade high-power rockets. • Catapult pumpkins the better part of a mile. • Watch robot gladiators saw, flip, and pound one another into high-tech junk heaps. • Dazzle the eye with electrical discharges measured in the hundreds of thousands of volts. • Play with flamethrowers, potato guns, and other decidedly unsafe toys . . . If this is your idea of fun, you’ll have a major good time on this wild ride through today’s Technology Underground. From the Burning Man festival in Nevada’s high desert to the latest gathering of Large Dangerous Rocket Ship builders to Delaware’s annual Punkin Chunkin competition (a celebration of “science, radical self-expression, and beer”), you’ll meet the inspired, government-unregulated, and corporately unfettered men and women who operate at the furthest fringes of science, engineering, and wild-eyed arc welding, building the catapults, ultra-high-voltage electrical devices, incendiary artworks, fighting robots, and other machines that demonstrate what’s possible when physics meets human ingenuity.

MAKE Magazine’s annual Maker Faires have become the engine that drives the diverse and ever-expanding maker movement. At the heart of these events are the projects that their clever creators bring to show off and to inspire others to create. This special edition of MAKE celebrates the best of these projects, as seen at the Faires and in the pages of the magazine, as well as profiles of the makers who create them and the Faires that bring them together. Build a secret knock gumball machine Find out how to 3D-print your head Make a high-power water rocket Set up your electronics workbench

These are the homemade machines that you’ve dreamed of building, from the high-voltage Night Lighter 36 spud gun to the Jam Jar Jet, the Marshmallow Shooter, and the Yagua Blowgun. Including detailed diagrams and supply lists, Gurstelle’s simple, step-by-step instructions help workshop warriors at any skill level achieve impressively powerful results. With Whoosh Boom Splat, you can build: - The Jam Jar Jet—the simple pulse jet engine that roars - The Elastic Zip Cannon—a membrane-powered shooter that packs a wallop - The Mechanical Toe—a bungee-powered kicking machine - The Vortex Launcher—a projectile shooter that uses air bullets for ammunition - The Clothespin Snap Shooter—the PG-17 version of a clothespin gun that fires fiery projectiles - The Architronito—the steam-powered cannon conceived by Leonardo da Vinci And many more! In addition to learning how to make these cool gadgets, you’ll find sections packed with information on what makes each machine unique. Gurstelle describes the machine’s historical origins as only he can: with verve, fun, and the sort of quirky details his legions of fans love. Whoosh Boom Splat is a must-have for every extreme tinkerer.

Combining science, history, and DIY pyrotechnics, this book explains humankind's most useful and paradoxical tool: fire. Gurstelle presents 25 projects with instructions, diagrams, photos, and links to video demonstrations that enable people of all ages to explore and safely play with fire.