Awesome book! Got one for myself and liked it so much I just ordered one for my father-in-law. Unlike most books in this genre, doesn't overly concentrate on Escher. I was surprised to see that I am friends with at least 4 people in the book (maybe I'll find more as I go through it).

Quoted: Rings of seahorses that seem to rotate on the page. Butterflies that transform right before your eyes into two warriors with their horses. A mosaic portrait of oceanographer Jacques Cousteau made from seashells. These dazzling and often playful artistic creations manipulate perspective so cleverly that they simply outwit our brains: we can’t just take a quick glance and turn away. They compel us to look once, twice, and over and over again, as we try to figure out exactly how the delightful trickery manages to fool our perceptions so completely. Of course, first and foremost, every piece is beautiful on the surface, but each one offers us so much more. From Escher’s famous and elaborate “Waterfall” to Shigeo Fukuda’s “Mary Poppins,” where a heap of bottles, glasses, shakers, and openers somehow turn into the image of a Belle Epoque woman when the spotlight hits them, these works of genius will provide endless enjoyment.

Quoted: It's possible to use optics to roast a hot dog without electricity or a stove; to make a simple radio with just an iron, a few basic circuits and three shiny pennies; and to assemble a simple steam-powered boat with a plastic bottle, a candle, copper tubing and a nail. Of course, only die-hard science nerds would attempt these projects. But information systems specialist Field knows he's a geek, which is part of the charm of his science manual-cum-survival guide. Like Cy Tymony's recent Sneaky Uses for Everyday Things, Field's book does not depend on high-tech equipment. Most of the "shopping lists" he includes for each gizmo consist of items that can be found in hardware stores. His experiments range from the disarming (e.g., a plastic hydrogen bomb which, he admits, "sounds a bit dangerous" but can also function as "a high-tech squirt gun") to the useful (such as a "quicky electric motor"). Throughout, Field shares explanations of each process, with sidebars entitled "Why does it do that?"

Quoted: Do you know how to make something that can tell whether the $20 bill in your wallet is a fake? Or how to generate battery power with simple household items? Or how to create your own home security system?Science-savvy author Cy Tymony does. And now you can learn how to create these things -and more than 40 other handy gadgets and gizmos in Sneaky Uses for Everyday Things. More than a simple do-it-yourself guide, this quirky collection is a valuable resource for transforming ordinary objects into the extraordinary. With over 80 solutions and bonus applications at your disposal, you will be ready for almost any situation. Included are survival, security, self-defense, and silly applications that are just plain fun.You¿ll be seen as a superhero as you amaze your friends by: Transforming a simple FM radio into a device that enables you to eavesdrop on tower-to-air conversations. Creating your own personalized electronic greeting cards. Making a compact fire extinguisher from items typically found in a kitchen pantry. Thwarting intruders with a single rubber band.By using run-of-the-mill household items and the easy-to-follow instructions and diagrams within, you'll be able to complete most projects in just a few minutes. Whether you use Sneaky Uses for Everyday Things as a practical tool to build useful devices, a fun little fantasy escape, or as a trivia guide to impress friends and family, this book is sure to be a reference favorite for years to come.

Quoted: Part comic strip and part science experiment, Howtoons shows children how to find imaginative new uses for common household items like soda bottles, duct tape, , mop buckets, and more–to teach kids the "Tools of Mass Construction"!

Howtoons are cartoons that teach 8– to 15–year–old readers "how to" build, create, and explore things. Combining a fun, full–color cartoon format and real life science and engineering principles, Howtoons are designed to encourage kids to become active participants in the world around them....

In 1984, when I was in graduate school, I participated in a psych study on programmers. The goal of the study was to gain insight into how people debug applications. The grad student running the study set up a program that didn't work properly, gave us all a development environment and an instruction sheet on how to use it (a few simple edit commands, plus a Run command). He told us the correct result from running the program. There was a pad of paper and a calculator taped down to the table and a designated pen we were supposed to use. The test was scheduled for 2 hours and was being videotaped. We were able to review the editor "cheat sheet" before the 2 hours started.

He started the clock and I looked at the program. I ran it and saw the incorrect output that it gave. I then looked at the program and immediately spotted an off-by-one error in a loop which was consistent with the incorrect result. I changed it and ran the program again and got the correct result. Total elapsed time: less than 1 minute. I then spent the next five minutes examining every line in the program to make sure there were no additional bugs. There weren't, so I turned to the observer and said "It looks like it was just that single bug. What do I do now?" Sure enough, it was just the one bug.

I was clearly on the fast side, but it turned out I wasn't alone. Since I was one of the later participants in his survey, I was able to ask him how it had gone so far. It turned out that every single person in his test fit into one of two categories: solved it in <10 minutes, or couldn't solve it at all, given the full 2 hours. There was nobody in between. Certainly an interesting result, but not what he was looking for. Unfortunately, I never saw his final paper, so I don't know what he ended up writing about.

Quoted: All teachers of programming find that their results display a 'double hump'. It is as if there are two populations: those who can [program], and those who cannot [program], each with its own independent bell curve. Almost all research into programming teaching and learning have concentrated on teaching: change the language, change the application area, use an IDE and work on motivation. None of it works, and the double hump persists.

This would be fun too

Quoted: visually stunning presentation of the periodic table suitable for reception areas, board rooms or wherever scientists meet and works of art might be displayed. Each element sample is individually embedded inside a solid acrylic block. The blocks are arranged in the familiar grid of the periodic table, carefully illuminated and beautifully presented beneath a sheet of toughened glass. The coffee table itself is manufactured by British Craftsmen in burred oak.

I have to get one of these!

Quoted: After four years of photography, my periodic table poster is now available! This is the same poster featured as a tear out special section in the December 2006 issue of Popular Science magazine, but of course the versions sold here are much bigger and on much better paper.

That's an S written on water

Quoted: A new technology allows researchers to write on water.

The AMOEBA (Advanced Multiple Organized Experimental Basin), a circular tank created by Mitsui Engineering at their Akishima laboratory, is able form letters with standing waves.

This remarkable display device consists of fifty water-wave generators surrounding a cylindrical tank 5 feet wide and a foot deep. The wave generators move vertically to produce cylindrical waves. These "pixels" are about 4 inches in diameter and 1.5 inches in height; these form lines and shapes.

Some "mad scientist" experiments, possibly suitable for kids parties

Quoted: The Mad Scientist Handbook is the greatest collection of creepy crafts, insane inventions, and freaky experiments. Packed with easy-to-understand instructions and simple illustrations, this engaging activity book will show you how to how to make dozens of wild and wacky projects.