Summary: William Gurstelle, author of the newly updated DIY book Backyard Ballistics, joins Eric today to talk about what makes us want to make stuff, how William came to writing DIY books, and how civilized we are today compared to just a few hundred years ago. Eric and William talk about catapults and how they may have been one of the ways the Plague was spread through Europe, and how they were state of the art weaponry for hundreds of years. More on the subject of catapults, also known as siege engines, can be found on Wikipedia. Our video on how to make a potato bazooka, aka potato cannon, was inspired by his Backyard Ballistics book, this and Bill's other books are full of cool projects that do fun things and explain the science behind them as well. The new updated version of the Backyard Ballistics book contains a bazooka powered by dry ice with a new burst valve built with stuff from your kitchen. neat. William's Propane Flame Cannon, from his Practical Pyromaniac book, is on my to do list now. Make big balls of flame from plumbing parts. fun. Below are some of William's books and links to buy them: Buy Practical Pyromaniac from Indie Bound Here Buy Practical Pyromaniac From Amazon Here Buy Catapult Book From Indie Bound Buy Catapult Book From Amazon Here Buy from Indie Bound Here Buy From Amazon Here
