Two Books For The Gulch Library
"The Amateur Scientist", published I believe in the 1940s. A series of articles drawn from "Scientific American" which detail how to use basic technology and materials to build all manner of scientific apparatus, much of which can be adapted to useful purposes--an x-ray machine, to name one example.
Also "The Boy Mechanic", issued by Popular Mechanics in different versions with different contents over the years (starting in 1915). STUFFED with plans on how to make almost anything you can imagine. A boat, a motorcycle, a wind sled, a car, your own tools, paint, varnish, and anything you might need to make for yourself someday. Need an engine or a generator? "The Boy Mechanic" will tell you how to build one. How about a welder or other machine tools? They're in there. The plans and descriptions are a bit cursory but overall the sheer volume of information is astonishing.
"The Amateur Scientist" (available in several editions) tends to be quite expensive. Most editions of "The Boy Mechanic" are in the public domain and "new" editions can be had for very little.
The main thing about both of these titles is that most can be constructed using available materials and simple tools. In effect, these are guides to surviving as a technological society should one be unable to purchase a ready-made item locally or order it online.
Also "The Boy Mechanic", issued by Popular Mechanics in different versions with different contents over the years (starting in 1915). STUFFED with plans on how to make almost anything you can imagine. A boat, a motorcycle, a wind sled, a car, your own tools, paint, varnish, and anything you might need to make for yourself someday. Need an engine or a generator? "The Boy Mechanic" will tell you how to build one. How about a welder or other machine tools? They're in there. The plans and descriptions are a bit cursory but overall the sheer volume of information is astonishing.
"The Amateur Scientist" (available in several editions) tends to be quite expensive. Most editions of "The Boy Mechanic" are in the public domain and "new" editions can be had for very little.
The main thing about both of these titles is that most can be constructed using available materials and simple tools. In effect, these are guides to surviving as a technological society should one be unable to purchase a ready-made item locally or order it online.
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My antique copy of "The Boy Mechanic" shows a young man building a wright glider, jumping off a cliff and landing in the town square.
Nowadays they would never publish anything like that because somebody would sue them. However, in the age the book was published, the message to young men was "Dream Big!"
I love both these books. Thanks for recommending them!