How Everything Works: Making Physics Out of the Ordinary by Louis A. Bloomfield; 2007. Softcover

Why do golf balls have dimples? How does an iPod turn binary digits into Bon Jovi? How do microwave ovens cook? How does a pitcher make a curveball curve and a knuckleball jitter? Why don't you fall off an upside-down roller coaster? If one didn't know better, one might think the world was filled with magic—from the household appliances that make our lives easier to the devices that fill our world with sounds and images. Even a simple light bulb can seem mysterious when you're clueless about the science behind it.

Now in How Everything Works, Louis Bloomfield takes you inside the amazing gizmos and gadgets that are part of the fabric of our everyday life, explaining the physics that makes them work. Examining everything from roller coasters to radio, knuckleballs to nuclear weapons, How Everything Works reveals the answers to such questions as why the sky is blue, why metal is a problem in microwave ovens, how MRIs see inside you, and why some clothes require dry cleaning.

You don't need a science or engineering background to understand How Everything Works. All you need is an active curiosity about the extraordinary world all around you. Remarkably clear and always fascinating, How Everything Works is nothing short of a user's manual for our everyday world.