How It Works. Book of Amazing Technology

212 Pages·2011·64.67 MB·English

by  Dave Harfield (Editor)

ENGINEERING ENTERTAINMENT DOMESTIC COMPUTING GADGETS INVENTIONS
How do games
consoles work?
What’s inside Does a roller coaster
a haul truck? defy gravity?
How does a
pistol work?
Can an eco
bulb save
energy?
What are
motion
sensors?
TM
BOOK OF
What’s inside
a DSLR?
TECHNOLOGY
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The science
How do lighthouses
of bladeless
save lives?
technology
What’s
behind
a touch
screen?
INSIDE:
8 500
,
AMAZING
FACTS
What’s in a
laser beam?

TM
BOOK OF
TECHNOLOGY
Everything you need to know about the world’s best tech

TM
AmBOaOkz OFing
TECHNOLOGY
Imagine Publishing Ltd
Richmond House
33 Richmond Hill
Bournemouth
Dorset BH2 6EZ
% [phone]
Website: www.imagine-publishing.co.uk
Editor in Chief
Dave Harfield
Production Editor
Helen Laidlaw
Design
Danielle Dixon, Duncan Crooke
Photo Studio
Studio equipment courtesy of Lastolite (www.lastolite.co.uk)
Printed by
William Gibbons, 26 Planetary Road, Willenhall, West Midlands, WV13 3XT
Distributed in the UK & Eire by
Imagine Publishing Ltd, www.imagineshop.co.uk. Tel [phone]
Distributed in Australia by
Gordon & Gotch, Equinox Centre, 18 Rodborough Road, Frenchs Forest,
NSW 2086. Tel + 61 2 9972 8800
Distributed in the Rest of the World by
Marketforce, Blue Fin Building, 110 Southwark Street, London, SE1 0SU
Disclaimer
The publisher cannot accept responsibility for any unsolicited material lost or damaged in the post. All
text and layout is the copyright of Imagine Publishing Ltd. Nothing in this magazine may be reproduced
in whole or part without the written permission of the publisher. All copyrights are recognised and
used specifically for the purpose of criticism and review. Although the magazine has endeavoured
to ensure all information is correct at time of print, prices and availability may change. This
bookazine is fully independent and not affiliated in any way with the companies mentioned herein.
HIW Book of Amazing Technology © 2011 Imagine Publishing Ltd
ISBN 978-1-908222 0 84
The How It Works Book Of Amazing Technology
74 PlayStation 3
Engineering 76 Internet television
Domestic
10 M assive mining
machines explained
82 Dyson Airblade
Extraction on a grand scale
Discover the tech that means you can
16 MRI scanner
dry your hands in seconds
18 Elevators/lifts
84 Hairdryers
18 Circular saws
84 Yale locks
19 Pile drivers
85 Power drills
20 Roller coasters
86 Pressure cookers
24 Offshore oil rigs
86 Water fi lters
26 Rail guns
86 Can openers
27 Cranes
87 Pianos
28 Renewable energy
88 Flexfoot Cheetah
Alternatives to fossil fuels
89 Powercube transformers
32 Coal mining
89 Touch-sensitive lamps
34 Bullet proof glass
90 Kettles
34 Milking machines
90 Eco-friendly bulbs
35 Side winder missiles
How do they differ from normal bulbs?
36 Hydro electric dams
91 Fire extinguishers
38 Bowling alleys
92 Dyson Air Multiplier
38 Manufacturing optical fi bre
94 Cigarette lighters
39 Lighthouses
94 Weighing scales
40 Nuclear power
95 Refrigerators
44 Semiautomatic pistols Space
96 Burglar alarms 103
46 Megastructures
96 Electric toothbrushes
Entertainment 97 Clock mechanisms Water sprinklers
98 Online groceries
52 Motion-control gaming 192
How motion sensors are changing the 99 Water coolers
way we play games 99 Batteries
Wild West weaponry
58 Apple TV
100 Vacuum fl asks
60 OLEDs How to keep hot things hot
61 Pinball machines 100 Cycle helmets
62 Nintendo DS 101 Sky player History
64 Slot machines 102 Aerosol sprays
65 Electric guitars 102 Double glazing
66 Xbox 360 103 Sprinklers
68 Audio reproduction 103 Ball cocks
72 Auto tuning software 104 Pencils
Can’t sing. No problem! 104 Central heating
72 IMAX cinemas 105 Air conditioning
73 Green screen 105 Beer widgets
006
132
164 Skype
164 Optical zooms
165 Remote control helicopters
How the world’s fastest 166 Camera lenses
168 Motorola smartphones
computers work
170 N oise-cancelling headphones
How to listen to music in peace
170 Infrared watches
171 Phone chargers
171© N Maseatal detectors
172 Apple smartphones
Inventions
178 Mark I tanks
A common sight on the WWII battlefield
180 Guillotines
180 Typewriters
181 Wright Flyer
181 V2 Rocket
182 Blast furnaces
182 Ancient earthquake detectors
183 First razors
184 M odel T Ford
The birth of mass production cars?
105 Staplers 132 Superfast computers
186 First television
106 Toasters 136 PayPal
186 First telephone
106 Smoke alarms 137 Web hosting
187 First computer
107 Barcodes 138 Social networks
188 Anderson shelters
107 Washing machines Gadgets
188 Floppy disks
107 Pet ID tags
144 Tablet computers 189 Windmills
108 Sewage treatments
What goes on beneath the touch screen? 190 First mechanical calculator
Computing 148 Radar
190 Early ploughs
148 Digital sound
112 Spotify 190 Self-heating food cans
Music download systems explained 148 Geiger counters 191 1 804 steam locomotive
114 Superfast broadband 149 DVD burning The power of steam in practice
118 QR codes 149 Night vision 192 Weapons of the wild west
118 Electronic ink 150 eBook readers 194 Gramophones
119 Firewalls 152 Blu-ray 194 Dynamo generators
119 IBM Roadrunner How does a Blu-ray disc work? 195 Tesla coil
152 Holograms
120 MacBook Pros 196 Bicycles
153 DSLR cameras
197 The wheel
122 Wi-Fi
154 Electronic hearing aids
198 Concorde
122 USB drives
154 Bluetooth
200 Astrolabes
123 App creation
155 Connected GPS Ancient astronomy
124 Mobile internet
The next-generation of mobile networks 156 BlackBerry smartphones 200 Ancient wells
explained and explored 158 Clockwork radios 201 Looms
128 Data centres 158 Microphones 201 Cannons
130 Fibre optic internet 159 Electric cigarettes 202 Sea mines
130 Phishing 159 Polygraph tests 202 Mechanical music boxes
131 Facial recognition 160 3 D digital cameras 203 Atari 26
131 USB 3.0 Achieving real 3D on your camera 204 Man of War
007
G
N
R I
E
E
N
G I
N
E
Incredible tech that’s changed the world
36
How water can
generate power
20
10
Massive

mining
Roller
machines coasters
explained explained
Learn how these
behemoths work
16 MRI scanner
The medical wonders that
can get inside your head
18 Elevators/lifts
What goes up must come
down, and we see how!
18 Circular saws
26 R ail guns 34 Bullet proof
Behind the blade that can
Explaining how these glass
cut down a tree
machines can be used
The incredible
19 Pile drivers material that can
27 C ranes
Driving down into the save a person’s life
Reaching heights man can’t
ground with ease
quite get to 34 M ilking machines
20 R oller coasters 28 The tech that gets it from cow to
Renewable
The science behind these kitchen table
energy
exhilarating rides
Discover the ways 35 S ide winder missiles
24
Offshore we’re trying to save The deadly missiles that can

oil rigs the planet track and trace
The life and
32 C oal mining 36 H ydroelectric dams
technology behind
Going underground in Learn how to generate
these essential rigs
search of coal electricity using water
008
ENGINEERING
39
Learn about
lighthouses
38
Go behind a
bowling alley
40
A look at
16
nuclear
Inside
power an MRI
scanner
38 40
Bowling Nuclear

alleys power
See how the pins The controversial
fall down and get technology
back up again explained
38 M anufacturing 44 S emiautomatic
optical fi bre pistols
This minute tech that has Learn how these guns
changed the world shoot a bullet
39 L ighthouses 46 M egastructures
24
Showing you your way Explaining giant
when you’re out at sea construction Life on an oil rig
009
ENGINEERING
Massive mining machines
MASSIVE
mining machines
The world is still primarily reliant on around. It’s diffi cult to get your head around just how
fossil fuels for energy generation. vast these massive tools are – not to mention the sheer
With billions of people across the amount of fossil fuels they extract each and every day,
globe, this means the demands that around the clock.
are placed on the mining industry are They may cost tens of millions of pounds, and last
nc. huge. Extracting these fossil fuels as effi ciently as for decades, but when it comes down to it they are still
nal I humanly possible is of utmost importance, and for controlled by a human being. The principles they use
natio best effi ciency and ability to meet this demand, you will be familiar to those who have driven past
nter need scale. And the fi ve machines featured across the roadworks or looked closely at a building site. It’s just
us I next six pages defi nitely fi t the bill scale. This is huge- that they are enlarged to dimensions to take your
ucyr scale engineering that you can barely get your head breath away. Read on to fi nd out how they work.
B
©
010