Made on Earth
With an entomologist's passion and meticulous attention to detail, Wesley Fleming recreates bugs in the form of tiny glass sculptures.
Page 18
Jasmine Zimmerman's greenhouse made from used plastic bottles.
Page 20
A fantastic pedal-powered art car that rides on roads or rails.
Page 21
An inventor turns spinning wheels into generators for rural India.
Page 22
Christopher Tallon's paper sculptures of tools fool the eye.
Page 23
Dick Termes' spherical paintings really do give a new -- six-point -- perspective.
Page 24
The Telectroscope is a digital transatlantic tunnel between New York and London.
Page 25
1+2+3
An LED, a feather, and a spring.
Page 92
With a few everyday items found in the home, you can make a pantograph.
Page 136
Maker
Gustave Trouvé was like Thomas Edison, Alexander Graham Bell, and Igor Sikorsky rolled into one.
Page 30
Modding a baby crib for disabled parents.
Page 37
Kazuhiko Hachiya mines cartoons for his real-world inventions.
Page 38
A chilly reception for Minnesota's Art Shanty Projects.
Page 40
The two inventors who fueled the rise of the living room helicopter.
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Welcome
Learning from makers of long ago.
Page 12
Make Free
» Love the Machine, Hate the Factory
by Cory Doctorow
The biggest appeal of steampunk is that it exalts the machine and disparages the mechanization of human creativity.
Page 14
Reader Input
» Reader Input
Tales of inspiration in school and debates on artistic expression.
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Maker's Corner
Got an idea for a great kit? Let us know.
Page 17
Making Trouble
» The Year of Peak Waste
by Saul Griffith
Recessions reduce our carbon footprint.
Page 26
Hands On
The world's "oldest computer."
Page 28
Art Work
There are other humans around, and it's time to meet them face to face.
Page 46
Country Scientist
Build a simple occluder for your digital camera to shoot the sun's halo.
Page 48
A steam-powered sawmill survives.
Page 52
The mad Englishman was on a mission that makers can relate to.
Page 56
The nation's premier watchmaker's college, in the heart of Amish country.
Page 62
Make your own mad-scientist coffee machine.
Page 63
Turn the heat from tea, coffee, or candles into piston power!
Page 68
A pocket butane raygun for steampunky cosplay.
Page 76
Amazing & confounding techno-artifacts, unearthed for your edification & amusement, in the interest of their most timely preservation.
Page 80
Colorful, creative expressions of alt.Victorian finery.
Page 83
Upload
Make magnificent mandalas from kittehs and other kritters.
Page 84
Use simple commands to build organic patterns with Context Free software.
Page 86
Simplify applying images with the Paintbrush tool.
Page 90
An increasing range of possibilities for hassle-free video.
Page 91
When assembling a proper laboratory, the gentleman or lady experimenter should be sure to include a Wimshurst electrostatic generating machine.
Page 94
Build a majestic, 5-foot-wingspan model airplane inspired by stick-and-tissue designs of the 1930s, then fly it free or radio-controlled and watch it outclass all the toy-store plastic.
Page 108
The BeatBearing is an exciting and intuitive way to make music. Move the balls on a grid, and you change the beat. Music sequencing couldn't be simpler.
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Build Notes
How to create your own museum of the bizarre and the beautiful.
Page 130
DIY: Music
Optically amplified rubber band twang.
Page 137
Microprocessor organ and servo drum play an endless song.
Page 141
DIY: Home
Construct an interlocking puzzle with 30 identical pieces.
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Excerpts from Rules of Thumb: A Life Manual.
Page 146
DIY: Workshop
Glean gleaming treasures from rusty trash.
Page 147
Repurposed packaging for electronics experimenters.
Page 153
Scrounging useful components on your two-wheeled travels.
Page 155
DIY: Outdoors
A webcam captures animals who visit while you sleep.
Page 157
DIY: Circuits
This fake hard drive stores more data and raises eyebrows.
Page 159
Disguise an inexpensive binaural microphone as ordinary earbuds.
Page 161
» USB Key Makeovers
by Brian Nadel
These case-modded pocket drives move your files with style.
Page 163
Make an inexpensive desktop scroll wheel and volume control.
Page 165
Toolbox
Cool beats, aged brass, an analog synth kit, and a guide to surviving the apocalypse (steampunk style).
Page 168
Howtoons
Page 176
Heirloom Technology
Here are just some of the island tricks you should know about.
Page 178
Maker's Calendar
Our favorite events from around the world.
Page 180
Make Money
Sometimes it costs more to buy it than to make it from the money itself.
Page 181
Retrospect
» Theory of Self-Reproducing Automata
by George Dyson
In an era of increasingly self-reproducing goods, we can suffer a declining economy while still producing more stuff than people can consume.
Page 182
MakeShift
» Makeshift: Mountain Bike Rescue
You need to figure out a way to get your friend, who weighs a good 30 pounds more than you, up off that ledge and back down the trail to your car before nightfall.
Page 184
Aha!
Einstein's Riddle?
Page 191
Homebrew
My espresso machine is customized for a quality coffee experience.
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