Who are these crazies?

A place to keep track of reference material - any particularly useful books, articles, etc. should be listed here.
Post Reply
Jon Rosenstiel
Posts: 1494
Joined: Thu Jun 28, 2001 1:30 am
Real name: Jon Rosenstiel
Location: Southern California

Who are these crazies?

Post by Jon Rosenstiel »

"The technology underground is a thriving, humming, and often literally scintillating subculture of amateur inventors and scientific envelope-pushers who dream up, design, and build machines that whoosh, rumble, fly—and occasionally hurl pumpkins across enormous distances".

Adventures from the Technology Underground, William Gurstelle, author.

http://williamgurstelle.com/books4.php

I haven't read it yet, but it sounds entertaining.

Jon Rosenstiel
MarkS
Posts: 249
Joined: Sat Jun 30, 2007 4:07 am
Real name:

Re: Who are these crazies?

Post by MarkS »

I've read parts of it, and its more of a story then a how-to.
User avatar
Richard Hull
Moderator
Posts: 14991
Joined: Fri Jun 15, 2001 9:44 am
Real name: Richard Hull

Re: Who are these crazies?

Post by Richard Hull »

I've seen bowling balls lofted with FG black powder from 10", buried steel mortars over 3,000-4,000 feet in similar whacko amusing styles. I think the discovery channel showed anvil firing with black powder where 50 lb anvils are pushed skyward, much as in the bowling ball lofting.

Amusingly, as the bowling ball comes back down you get a periodic "wheep.....wheep.....wheep.....wheep........CHUNK... as the finger holes go normal to the air stream making a flute like note as the ball rotates on its way down.

Masculine amusements, to be sure, and perhaps not long for this world as things manly or that smack of being not in line with a unisex society are eschewed as dangerous, contain lead or are just plain bad for future children to observe and absorb as being a gender driven activity.

Phooey. I don't know if would want to come back in two hundred years and see where man is then or what remains of manhood or experimental amateur science.

Richard Hull
Progress may have been a good thing once, but it just went on too long. - Yogi Berra
Fusion is the energy of the future....and it always will be
The more complex the idea put forward by the poor amateur, the more likely it will never see embodiment
Post Reply

Return to “Books & References”