How are matches made? Why is dry cleaning called dry? How does a speedometer work? Why can the heat of an iron be regulated? What makes a ship float? Why does a zipper zip? Diagrams and drawings accompany a page of explanatory text for each of the 1071 entries which explain the principles of why things work. Many of the explanations are beyond the understanding of elementary school students, but the answers to many of their inquiries as to how things work are to be found easily by the curious boy or girl. Much more comprehensive in scope than Mann's How Things Work (Crowell, 1960) but not as useful for the general reader.

An illustrated encyclopedia of technology. From the ball point pen to the computer, from the Polariod Camera to the Atomic clock, with 1071 two-color drawings and diagrams.

On dust jacket: A new, companion volume to the best-selling illustrated encyclopedia of modern technology, explaining over 1000 additional machines, principles and processes with instant clarity.

This book is designed "to give the layman an understanding of 'how things work,' from the simplest mechanical functions of moder life to the most basic scientific principles and complex industrial processes... A page of descriptive text faces the coloured drawing to which it refers." Foreword.

The way things work; an illustrated encyclopedia of technology by C. Van Amerongen (1967)