The Way Things Work Now

402 Pages·2016·189.021 MB·English

by  David Macaulay, Neil Ardley

THE
WAY
THINGS
WORK
NOW
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THE
WAY
THINGS
WORK
NOW
D M
AVID ACAULAY
WITH
NEIL ARDLEY
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Original Edition
Project Editor David Burnie
Designer Peter Luff
Revised Edition
Senior Editor Jenny Sich
Senior Art Editor Stefan Podhorodecki
Managing Editor Francesca Baines
Managing Art Editor Philip Letsu
Jacket Editor Claire Gell
Jacket illustration by David Macaulay
Jacket Development Manager Sophia M Tampakopolous Turner
Producer, Pre-production Gillian Reid
Senior Producer Vivienne Yong
Publisher Andrew Macintyre
Art Director Karen Self
Associate Publishing Director Liz Wheeler
Publishing Director Jonathan Metcalf

Revised text provided by Jack Challoner
Consultants Jack Challoner and Chris Woodford
First published in Great Britain in 1988 as The Way Things Work
Revised editions 1998, 2004
This revised edition published in 2016
by Dorling Kindersley Limited
80 Strand, London WC2 ORL
A Penguin Random House Company
Compilation copyright © 1988, 1998, 2004, 2016 Dorling Kindersley Limited
Illustration copyright © 1988, 1998, 2004, 2016 David Macaulay
Text copyright © 1988, 1998, 2004, 2016 David Macaulay, Neil Ardley
2 4 6 8 10 9 7 5 3 1
001–259189–July/2016
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means,
electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without
the prior written permission of the copyright owner.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN: 978-0-2412-2793-0
Printed and bound in China

A WORLD OF IDEAS:
SEE ALL THERE IS TO KNOW
www.dk.com
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CONTENTS
PART 1
T M
HE ECHANICS OF
M 6
OVEMENT
PART 2
H
ARNESSING THE
E 90
LEMENTS
PART 3
W
ORKING WITH
W 176
AVES 
PART 4
E &
LECTRICITY
A 254
UTOMATION
PART 5
T D
HE IGITAL
D 310
OMAIN
EUREKA!
T I
HE NVENTION OF
M 374
ACHINES
T T 390
ECHNICAL ERMS
I 396
NDEX
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t!
s
a
f
o
T o
W h o o p s !
EARLY·WORK
ON
THE·ROTATION
OF·THE·EARTH
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PART 1
t! T M
s HE ECHANICS
a
f
o
T o
W h o o p s ! OF MOVEMENT
INTRODUCTION 8
THE INCLINED PLANE 10
LEVERS 18
THE WHEEL & AXLE 30
GEARS & BELTS 36
CAMS & CRANKS 48
PULLEYS 54
SCREWS 62
ROTATING WHEELS 70
SPRINGS 78
FRICTION 82
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THE MECHANICS OF MOVEMENT
INTRODUCTION
EVERYTHING A MACHINE DOES is in accordance with a set of
principles or scientific laws. To see the way a machine works, you can
take the covers off and look inside. But to understand what goes on, you
need to get to know the principles that govern its actions. The machines
in this and the following parts of this book are therefore grouped by their
principles rather than by their uses. This produces some interesting
neighbours: the plough rubs shoulders with the zipper, for example, and
the hydroelectric power station with the dentist’s drill. They may be vastly
different in scale and have different purposes, but when seen in terms of
principles, they work in the same way.

MACHINERY IN MOTION
Mechanical machines work with parts that move, including levers,
gears, belts, wheels, cams, cranks, and springs. These moving parts are
often interconnected in complex linkages, some large enough to move
mountains and others almost invisible. Their movement can be so fast
that it disappears in a blur of spinning axles and whirling gears, or it can
be so slow that nothing seems to be moving at all. But whatever their
nature, all machines that use mechanical parts are built with the same
single aim: to change the size or direction of a force.

MOVEMENT AND FORCE
Many machines convert one form of movement into another. Often
linear movement is converted into circular or rotary movement, and
vice-versa, because the power source driving the machine moves in one
way and the machine in another. But whether direction is altered or not,
the mechanical parts change the force applied into one – either larger or
smaller – that is appropriate for the task to be tackled. A force may be
the push of a motor, or the pull of muscle or gravity, for example.
A machine changes the size of this force and conveys it to the right place
to do a job. When you squeeze and twist the handles of a can opener, the
blade cuts easily through the lid of the can. This makes light work of
something that would otherwise be impossible. The can opener increases
the force that your wrist produces and applies it where it is needed.
[8]
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