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Chatwin's stories of Africa, Nepal and Afghanistan of the 1980s were all very riveting, but there were many more essays about his obscure friends I had no interest in. I especially liked his write-up of the civil war he experienced in a small African country. But because this book was mostly a profile of his friends, I only give it three instead of four stars.
Practical Projects for the Handy Man (Popular Mechanics)
"Practical Projects for the Handy Man" by Popular Mechanics Press (formally Projects for the Boy Mechanic, circa 1913.)It contains Hundreds of projects from the turn of the century that you can build yourself. Along with other strange stuff like magic tricks etc. It shows the kind of stuff previous generations of boys were capable of. Before the age of class action suits, product liability suits, insurance settlements, government consumer agencies etc. The book is a collection of articles originally written for young boys as part of Popular Mechanics Magazine, on how to do all kinds of interesting and dangerous stuff!Like early biplane hang gliders, making moulds for metal foundries, do it yourself glass blowing, miniature cannons, an automatic washer using water power, how to make dry cell batteries recharge by drilling and injecting chemicals, a mission-style concrete dog house, kiln, still, do it yourself plating, boats, make electric motors, a lathe from pipe fittings, how to "fume" oak with ammonia, how to make a peddle powered trolly line, improvised microscopes, windmills, "wondergraphs" (making curved lines like used on dollar bills), camera obscura, etc.Am not sure these things are under copyright anymore, as the copyright changed from 75 years to 100 years or so after Disney lobbied to protect Steamboat Willie. If this was in the Public Domain, it would be interesting to update it and publish it on the web for people in less "developed" countries.Interesting for historical interest if nothing else. One little article shows how to make a table fan that doesn't use electricity. Before the age of home power, you could use a little water wheel made of tin to run a fan off the home water faucet. In those days, they didn't have water meters. Of little practical use today, but it shows what people can do and how to do it. A little bit like an old boy scout manual, but more mechanical. The book is not organized at all, just a bunch of articles about projects, maybe in chronological order as published, but it has a good index. Some small one-paragraph items are repeated, probably to use up space at the bottom of the page in the original issues. I found myself writing my own list of dozens of interesting project and page numbers in pencil on the inside cover.If you have an interest in making things and turn of the century history, it is a fun book, and a great value, In My Humble Opinion.gw 9/03
Practical Projects for the Handy Man (Popular Mechanics)
I purchased this book for my son-in-law at his suggestion. He loves any book with how-to format and he loves trying the different applications described in the books I send to him. He loved it when he opened it on Christmas Day! Thank you for making the process for giving it to him so convenient for me.
Practical Projects for the Handy Man (Popular Mechanics)
I felt this book had very limited content as to what it portrayed in its description. There were several projects that were repeated and many were not what I consider practical. I was hoping for a book that would have a wider variety of useful/ neat items. This book fell far short of this expectation.The book's organization is confusing. There is no categorization of the projects.I would not have bought this book if I knew it would be this disappointing. Sorry, but I am very dissatisfied with this book.
The New Concise Catholic Dictionary
I have used this book as a resouce for years in a class I teach at church. I recommend it to everyone. Unfortunately, it is out of print. Since I have a new catechist working with me, I ordered this copy for him from Amazon and was very pleased with it's condition and the prompness of it's arrival.ThanksJane
Every Person's Guide To Judaism -
This book truly is Every Person's Guide to Judaism. It was well thought out, easy to understand and set out nicely too. The text was just the right size and was seperated just well enough to make it easy to read. If you had a particular question in mind, you could easily skip to that section but you can just as easily read it from front to back, which is what I did.This book is a must for anyone interested in the basics of Judaism from it's major holidays, to what the Torah and Midrash are, to Judaic views on Adoption, Birth Control, Abortion and other ideas. It talks about thye Mezuzah, Jewish Dietary Laws, Traditions, Rituals, Converting, Zionism, The Holocaust and the different Modern movements. (Orthodox, Reform, Conservative and Reconstructionist. With a through glossary and all words that are in the glossary in italics through out the text, this is a worthwhile book to read or even purchase.