365 days of inventions, discoveries, science, and technology, from the editors of Wired Magazine.On January 30, Rubik applied for a patent on his cube (1975). On the next day, 17 years earlier, the first U.S. Satellite passed through the Van Allen radiation belt. On March 17, the airplane "black box" made its maiden voyage (1953). And what about today? Every day of the year has a rich scientific and technological heritage just waiting to be uncovered, and

The best-selling sequel to "Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman!"—funny, poignant, instructive.One of the greatest physicists of the twentieth century, Richard Feynman possessed an unquenchable thirst for adventure and an unparalleled ability to tell the stories of his life. "What Do You Care What Other People Think?" is Feynman’s last literary legacy, which he prepared as he struggled with cancer. Among its many tales—some funny, others intensely moving—we meet Fey...

The bestselling author of E=mc2 weaves tales of romance, divine inspiration, and fraud through an account of the invisible force that permeates our universe—electricity—and introduces us to the virtuoso scientists who plumbed its secrets.For centuries, electricity was seen as little more than a curious property of certain substances that sparked when rubbed. Then, in the 1790s, Alessandro Volta began the scientific investigation that ignited an explosion o...

Take a seat and settle in—it's a gigantic treasury of trivia and humor for our twenty-fifth (is that porcelain?) anniversary!IBPA Benjamin Franklin Award Gold Winner in HumorForeWord Reviews Book of the Year Awards, Honorable Mention in Humor"Fully Loaded" is putting it mildly. This behemoth of a book is overflowing with incredible stories, surprising facts, weird news, little-known origins, forgotten history, fun wordplay, and ever...

Our world has been transformed beyond recognition, particularly in the twentieth century, and so were our lives and our aspirations.Throughout James May's Magnificent Machines, our Top Gear guide explores the iconic themes of the past hundred years: flight, space travel, television, mechanised war, medicine, computers, electronic music, skyscrapers, electronic espionage and much more.But he also reveals the hidden story behind why some inv...

Strategically placed near the best seat in your home, Uncle John’s Endlessly Engrossing Bathroom Reader is jam-packed with great bathroom reading. It’s the gift that keeps on giving...and giving...and giving....The BRI’s 22nd all-new edition--*Uncle John’s Endlessly Engrossing Bathroom Reader--*is like reading several books all rolled into one: a history book, a weird news anthology, a science text, a dictionary, a how-to manual, a sports magazine, a joke ...

The beloved bathroom reader series returns with this twenty-sixth edition that's flush with weird facts on a wide array of topics.The twenty-sixth annual edition of Uncle John's wildly successful series is all-new and jam-packed with the BRI's patented mix of fun and information. Open to any page and you may find an interesting origin (like the origin of the snow globe) or a piece of obscure history (like the true story of the man who tried to repeal the law of gra...

Nikola Tesla was born to Serbian parents in the village of Smiljan, Austrian Empire near the town of Gospi?, in the territory of modern-day Croatia. His genius changed our world forever. Read stories about this legend. NIKOLA TESLA - MAN AHEAD OF HIS TIME  (or How to Build a UFO) Nikola Tesla, inventor of alternating current motors, did the basic research for constructing electromagnetic field lift-and-drive aircraft/space craft. Man's Greatest Achieve...

The twenty-seventh Bathroom Reader in the beloved, bizarre trivia series with more than fifteen million copies in print!At a whopping 544 pages, Uncle John's Canoramic Bathroom Reader is overflowing with everything that Bathroom Readers' Institute fans have come to expect from this bestselling trivia series: fascinating history, silly science, obscure origins . . . plus fads, blunders, wordplay, quotes, and a few surprises (such as some of the "creative" m...

Ahh…what a relief it will be to hold this most entertaining, informative, and amusing tome in the palm of your hands. Hours of great bathroom reading await you!Uncle John’s Ahh-Inspiring Bathroom Reader, Uncle John’s all-new 15th edition, sheds a light on everything under the sun and over the moon. From obscure history to classic wordplay to dumb crooks to inspiring quotations, you never know what you’re going to read next! Where else could you learn how t...

One of Uncle John’s all-time bestselling editions, Supremely Satisfying is everything a Bathroom Reader should be: informative, funny, surprising, thought-provoking, weird, and a little bit gross.Supreme satisfaction awaits you in Uncle John’s 14th all-new edition, which covers a whole host of topics—from the silly (a branding iron for hot dogs) to the bizarre (an exploding whale) to the profound (the rise of the Democratic and Republican parties)...

The twenty-fourth edition in the bestselling bathroom-reading series is jam-packed with over 500 pages of absorbing trivia material.The information miners at the Bathroom Readers' Institute have unearthed a priceless collection of surprising, amazing, head-scratching, and hilarious articles. Divided by length for your sitting convenience, 24-Karat Gold is chock-full of little-known history, random origins, weird news, celebrity secrets, and urban legends. ...