How Stuff Works

From the award-winning Web site visited by more than 2.5 million people every month comes the hardcover reference guide How Stuff Works. This book is a definitive guide to the inner workings of everyday items. In this fun and infinitely informative guide, Marshall Brain and staff of "stuff" experts at HowStuffWorks, Inc. unravel the mysteries of more than 135 intriguing topics. You'll be fascinated by the world around you!

In Marshall Brain's trademark easy-to-understand language, complemented by beautiful full-color illustrations, you'll discover the basic mechanisms behind everything from toasters to turbochargers, dieting to DVD players, and cell phones to submarines.

Technology and scientific principles are all around you: whether in the chips needed to execute commands on your computer, or in determining how many calories you need to burn in order to lose five pounds. This exciting book explains?"in a way you can easily grasp?"how technology is a part of everyday life. No matter what your age, if you're intrigued by how stuff works, you won't be able to put down How Stuff Works!

Marshall Brain (yes, that is his real name!) is the founder and CEO of HowStuffWorks, Inc. A published author with more than a dozen books to his name, including the popular The Teenager's Guide to the Real World, Marshall began HowStuffWorks.com as a hobby--a way to learn more about the world and to share that knowledge with online readers. Today, the company has expanded to include magazines, kids clubs, and books. Marshall lives just outside of Raleigh, NC with his wife Leigh, son David, and daughter Irena.