Backyard Ballistics: Build Potato Cannons, Paper Match Rockets, Cincinnati Fire Kites, Tennis Ball Mortars, and More Dynamite Devices

Ordinary folks can construct 13 awesome ballistic devices in their garage or basement workshops using inexpensive household or hardware store materials and this step-by-step guide. Clear instructions, diagrams, and photographs show how to build projects ranging from the simple -- a match-powered rocket -- to the more complex -- a scale-model, table-top catapult -- to the offbeat -- a tennis ball cannon. With a strong emphasis on safety, the book also gives tips on troubleshooting, explains the physics behind the projects, and profiles scientists and extraordinary experimenters such as Alfred Nobel, Robert Goddard, and Isaac Newton. This book will be indispensable for the legions of backyard toy-rocket launchers and fireworks fanatics who wish every day was the fourth of July.

William Gurstelle is the author of the best-selling 'Backyard Ballistics'. He is also a professional engineer and a technogeek robot builder. Gurstelle and his sons build and compete in the growing number of regional competitions with their own Tosca and Weber the Grillbot. He lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota.