Adventures from the Technology Underground: Catapults, ... (ISBN 0307351254)

Amazon.com Review:
Editorial Reviews The Age of Invention is Still Alive: Catapults, Air Cannons, and Skycars Punkin' Chunk Catapult Taser Air Cannon Skycar Watch Adventures from the Technology Underground Slideshow (requires Flash).

A little mad scientist in all of us...:
Did you ever get the urge to go pick up some scrap metal and bang together a fighting combat robot, flamethrower or a gigantic pumpkin-chucker? This book is full of tales of backyard builders and basement scientists who have built just these machines and more. The builders are motivated by a desire to compete against other builders and the satisfaction of making something unique rather than any monetary reward. The competition gets fierce when pride is on the like at the World Championships of pumpkin chucking in Delaware where massive air cannons battle middle-ages catapults to see who can hurl a pumpkin the farthest. Homemade combat robots battle to the mechanical deaths in improvised arenas carved out of scrap metal yards. Wild performance artists use flamethrowers and mega-volt electrical generators to create wild spectacles for the audiences at the Burning Man alternative culture festival. Part Mad Max, part mad scientist, this book proves that the only limit to our creations is our imagination.

A RATHER DISAPPOINTING PUBLICATION.:
Nothing technical in this book. More about the development and use of different items made by others. Lacking pictures, plans, etc. Okay reading but not much to be learned about tinkering or making your own projects come to life.

Adventures from the Techno;ogy Underground: Catapults, Pulsejets, Rail Guns, Flamethrowers,Tesla Coils, Air Cannons, and the Gar:
I did not like this book at all. It just was not what I expected. I found it very "Verbose" and way to boring. I wished I had not bought it.

Misleading web page:
I must admit I was disappointed with one aspect of the book: the web page from which I ordered it showed a number of color photos of items that I expected to be in the book - leading me to believe these photos were excerpted from the book: but the book had no photos - only a few drawings. A large part of my motivation for purchasing the book was to see pictures of some of the items discussed. The book was fairly interesting, but there are no photos in it.

Great Intro to Alternative Science Projects!:
Bill Gurtelle's latest book is a great intro to several fringe science & engineering contests & hobbies. It's a good read, without getting into too much technical detail (the Further Reading section @ the end leads you to sources for more details on the topics you liked reading about). Pick it up if you're a tinkerer, a hacker, or want to find something non-frumpy to do with your engineering degree! :)