The Ultimate Book of Saturday Science

"The Ultimate Book of Saturday Science" is Neil Downie's biggest and most astounding compendium yet of science experiments you can do in your own kitchen or backyard using common household items. It may be the only book that encourages hands-on science learning through the use of high-velocity, air-driven carrots. Downie, the undisputed maestro of "Saturday Science", here reveals important principles in physics, engineering, and chemistry through such marvels as the Helevator - a contraption that's half helicopter, half elevator - and the Rocket Railroad, which pumps propellant up from its own track. The Riddle of the Sands demonstrates why some granular materials form steep cones when poured while others collapse in an avalanche. The Sunbeam Exploder creates a combustible delivery system out of sunlight, while the Red Hot Memory experiment shows you how to store data as heat. Want to learn to tell time using a knife and some butter? There's a whole section devoted to exotic clocks and oscillators that teaches you how. "The Ultimate Book of Saturday Science" features more than seventy fun and astonishing experiments that range in difficulty from simple to more challenging. All of them are original, and all are guaranteed to work. Downie provides instructions for each one and explains the underlying science, and also presents experimental variations that readers will want to try.

ISBN 0691149666   Pages 576 ISBN13 9780691149660 (What's this?)   Weight (grammes) 771 Publisher Princeton University Press   Published in New Jersey Imprint Princeton University Press   Height (mm) 229 Format Paperback   Width (mm) 178 Publication date 13 May 2012   Spine width (mm) 21 DEWEY 507.8   Academic level General, Tertiary education DEWEY edition DC23

Preface ix Acknowledgments xiii SIMPLE BUT SUBTLE ... SIMPLE BUT NOT ALWAYS EASY TO EXPLAIN 1 Blunderspuds and Carrot Cannons--Artillery and Boyle's Law 3 Mr. Bernoulli's Pop-Up Piston--More Bernoulli Weirdness 9 The Rapid-Fire Vacuum Bazooka--Fire Projectiles or Clean the Floor 15 Single-Blade Propellers--Venetian Gondolas 22 Soda Mint Fountains--Thirst for Knowledge and Water Quenched at Once 29 The Armor-Plated Sandcastle--Gas and Sand Combine 34 The Riddle of the Sands--Weird but Beautiful Patterns Appear, All of Their Own Accord 39 Tricks of Sideways Light--Magic Mondrians and Invisible Watches 47 Sunbeam Exploders--Ray Guns Aren't Sci-Fi Any More 55 The Dead-or-Alive Ball--To Bounce or Not to Bounce, Th at Is the Question 64 Cowboy Coffee--Yee Haw! 68 Electric Glue--The Modern Glue 77 Electric Gunpowder--Explosive Electricity! 84 An Eiffel Brick Tower--Eat Your Heart Out, Monsieur Eiffel! 90 Dominoids--Four-Foot Brobdingnagian Monster Dominoes Will Hit the Floor at the End of a Row of Standard Dominoes 97 Colloons--Civil and Aeronautical Engineering Combined: Neither Column nor Balloon 104 Motor Brushes--The Science of Vibration-Driven Vehicles Is Applied to a Humble Household Brush 112 A Smooth-Wheel Paddle Steamer--Invisible (well, almost) Marine Propulsion 117 A String Amplifier--The Powerful Science of Loops of String 124 The Punkah Pendulum--Air-Conditioning and Timekeeping Combined 130 The Maharaja's Sunshade--Air in Motion Provides Tent and Air-Conditioning Rolled into One 136 SURPRISINGLY SUBTLE ... SURPRISES GALORE IN THIS MAVERICK COLLECTION 143 An Electric Sundial--Tired of Running to Your Cave Entrance to Get the Time? 145 The Kleenex Clock--Time from Tissue Paper 153 The Torsion Time Pencil--Peeling off Atomic Layers as Time Goes by 160 The Swell-Gel Flowstopper--Stop Water Going up Your Gas Lines 165 The Vortex Pump--Whirling Water Magic 170 Waxaulics--Hydraulics for Candles 175 Telestrings--Remote-Controlled Art 182 Squirting String--Getting String to Flow through Pipes 189 Spider Technology--The Silken Secrets of Spiderman 194 SIMPLE SECRETS OF THE UNIVERSE ... FUNDAMENTALS OF THE PHYSICAL WORLD UNCOVERED IN ELEGANTLY SIMPLE DEMONSTRATIONS 203 The Molecule Meter--I Speak Your Molecular Weight! 205 Talking Sparks--Send Messages at 186 Million Miles per Hour: See How Radio Pioneer Marconi First Sent Radio a Thousand Miles 211 Light and Lens Pipes--The Strong Focusing Principle Used in the Microscopes of Fundamental Particle Physics 221 Fire from Water--The Power of Concentration 230 The Heliracket--Waves, Molecules, and Music 239 The Helitower--The Momentum Principle of Rockets and Helicopters 248 CLOXOTICA-- EXOTIC CLOCKS AND OSCILLATORS: A CORNUCOPIA OF UNUSUAL CLOCKS 257 The Paperclip Clock--A Major Leap Forward in Horological Science, the Acme of Simplicity 259 The Micropendulum--The Prestipendulous Tick-Tock Clock 266 The String Thing--Ballet Dancing for Pendulums 274 Eddy the Coniclock--A Spinning Disk Powers a Conical Pendulum 280 The Humming Clock--Recycle Unwanted Mains Hum to Run Your Clock 285 An Hourglass Wallah--The Sands of Time Updated 292 The Knife-through-Butter Clock--Melting Time 300 Creepy Clocks and Time Pencils--The Slow Flow of Solids 307 A Polymerizing Clock--Telling Time with Glue and Chemistry 316 Delay-Line Oscillators--Pass-the-Parcel Oscillators 322 The Fan Flap Flip-Flop Clock--A Huffi ng and Puffing Clock 328 The Faucet Oscillator--Measuring Time with Spurts of Water 333 The Slugulator--Not an Oscillator for the Impatient! 338 The Sloshulator--Time from Waves 344 GEEKONICS--SIMPLER THAN YOU MIGHT EXPECT, AND NOT JUST FOR GEEKS 351 The Telebubblegraph--Sending Bubbly Messages the Electrolytic Way 353 The Touchy-Feely Sensor--Putting a Number to Hotfeeli

In his book, physicist Neil Downie provides a series of do-it-yourself science experiments that stand apart from your ho-hum Mr. Wizard-fare because, well, they involve a few high-speed projectiles... All you need are a few household items, some good judgment and, possibly, a carrotproof vest. -- Aaron Leitko Washington Post To keep the kids entertained this summer, what better than a bit of Saturday science? Neil A. Downie's compendium of experiments--'chosen on the grounds that they are new, that they work, that they are spectacular, and that they are interesting'--includes electric gunpowder, the knife-through-butter clock, the impossible turbine and armour-piercing carrots. Each experiment is accompanied by a straightforward scientific explanation, the occasional hazard warning and 'just a little math.' Nature Physics If you either run a science club or are a teenager who likes getting your hands dirty experimentally, you are going to love this. I certainly would have in my youth. Popular Science blog [T]his ample resource encourages readers to consider everyday occurrences and enlivens complex ideas with lessons designed to inspire curiosity... Recommended as a follow-up to the author's previous collections in the series, and as a valuable treasury of projects for teachers, coordinators of science clubs, parents of advanced, older homeschoolers, and adult enthusiasts who have experience in the field and are seeking enjoyable activities to practice and share with others. -- Karen Rigby ForeWord Reviews Downie's instructions are admirably clear and straightforward; his explanations of the underlying science admirably comprehensive and comprehensible; and his passion and enthusiasm, totally infectious. -- Helen Mulley Teach Secondary This book is guaranteed fun. New Scientist [T]hose willing to put in the effort will get a real kick out of this book. -- Clarissa Ai Ling Lee Physics World The Ultimate Book of Saturday Science is an absolutely fantastic book that contains one of the largest collections of fun-to-do experiments that you will ever come across in a science library... Downie does not just stop at the experiment--each one is backed up with the science behind it, the equipment you need and references for further reading. It truly is a wonderful book to read, and more importantly, a book to bring out the scientist in anyone. -- Paul Wolstenholme-Hogg Education in Chemistry This really is the ultimate science project book and could be used as the basis of a great science club or for ideas for some interesting and unexpected physics demonstrations. The projects range from simple to quite challenging and all of them are original and guaranteed to work. There should be a copy of the book in the school and staff library. There is also a video on YouTube featuring the author that is well worth watching. -- Sandra Baggley School Science Review

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