In this book, Bill Hammack, better known as The Engineer Guy, takes us on a whirlwind tour of how humans built the world we know today. From the grand stone arches of medieval cathedrals to the mundane modern soda can, Hammack explains the golden rule of thumb that underlies every new building technique, every technological advancement, and every creative solution that leads us one step closer to a better, more functional world.

"Award-winning poet and critic Kevin Young traces the history of the hoax as a peculiarly American phenomenon--the legacy of P.T. Barnum's 'humbug' culminating with the currency of Donald J. Trump's 'fake news'. Disturbingly, Young finds that fakery is woven from stereotype and suspicion, with race being the most insidious American hoax of all. He chronicles how Barnum came to fame by displaying figures like Joice Heth, a black woman whom he pretended...

As the new computer lab teacher tries to bring Ella Mentry School into the twenty-first century with her peculiar inventions, second-grader A.J. struggles to survive without sugary snacks when Principal Klutz bans junk food.

Acclaimed New York Times bestselling author Winchester illuminates the men who toiled fearlessly to discover, connect, and bond the citizenry and geography of the U.S.A. from its beginnings and ponders whether the historic work of uniting the States has succeeded, and to what degree.

"A retelling of Cinderella about an indomitable inventor-mechanic who finds her prince but realizes she doesn't want a fairy tale happy ending after all"--

The young inventor, Rube Goldberg, enlivens his day off by building incredibly complex chain-reaction machines to solve simple, everyday problems--like playing fetch with your dog in the yard without ever actually leaving your room.

When Mr. Cheeseman and his three "smart, polite, and relatively odor-free" children journey to the not-so-distant past, they meet something utterly surprising--the alternate versions of themselves.

This book explores the fascinating developments in technology and natural science that shaped the world as it is today.

Spelling out exactly what a corporate inventor needs to know about patents and patent strategy; this book explains in clear; easy-to-understand language how to secure patents that deliver the most possible value to the organization and build legal protections into properties from the outset. --

PROLOGUE: Unlearning What's Untrue. SECTION I SystemsInvention: An Attempt to Improve the World Understanding Inventions: A Brief Introduction to the System ModelUnderstanding Patents: An Application of the System ModelSystem Interfaces: How the Elements Work TogetherSystem Control Points: Where to Aim the Silver BulletsSECTION II Outside the BoxOutside the Box: Developing Skills for Creative ThinkingSeeing the Outlines of the Box: Discovering the...