William Gurstelle is the author of Absinthe & Flamethrowers; The Art of the Catapult; Building Bots; The Practical Pyromaniac; Notes from the Technology Underground; and Whoosh, Boom, Splat. He is a professional engineer who has been researching and building model catapults and ballistic devices for more than 30 years and is a contributing editor at Popular Mechanics and Make magazine and writes frequently for Wired, The Rake, and several other national magazines. He lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

"A great primer for the would-be engineer, and a wonderful chance for bonding among like-minded parents and children . . . Great fun!" --Courier-Journal

"Fun and potentially dangerous, this is sure to be a hit at most public libraries. Recommended. Bring your own safety goggles." --Library Journal

"How is it possible not to love a book with chapter titles like 'Back Porch Rocketry' and 'Greek Fire and the Catapult?' I devoured this prodigious account of all things explosive." --Homer Hickam, author of Rocket Boys

"Would-be rocketeers, take note: Engineer William Gurstelle has written a book for you." --Chicago Tribune

"If you want to make a potato soufflé, pick up a book by Julia Child. If you want to decorate your holiday cards with hand-cut potato stamps, look to a Martha Stewart manual. If, however, you'd like to launch a potato in a blazing fireball of combusting hairspray from a PVC pipe, your best source is Backyard Ballistics, by William Gurstelle." --Time Out New York

"Your inner boy will get a bang out of these 13 devices to build and shoot in your own back yard, some of them noisy enough to legally perk up a 4th of July." --Dallas Morning News

Publisher: Chicago Review Press

Pub date: 2012-09-01

Length: 240 pages