Smash, Crash, Topple, Roll!: The Inventive Rube Goldberg―A Life in Comics, Contraptions, and Six Simple Machines

A 2025 Science Friday Best Science Book for Kids A joyfully illustrated picture book biography of Rube Goldberg for STEM-loving children and the many people who enjoy doing simple tasks the hard way. Award-winning author Catherine Thimmesh's irresistibly engaging text and artist Shanda McCloskey's energetic, cartoon-style artwork introduce readers to the life and creative legacy of Rube Goldberg, the world-famous inventor of crazy contraptions. A rollicking educational kids' book that is part biography, part inspiration, and part physics how-to, Smash, Crash, Topple, Roll! posits the ultimate question … why do anything the simple way? (Especially if, for instance, there is a catapult option?) Because, of course, there are lots of things you can do the simple way: Set an alarm, flip a switch, open a door, toast some bread . . . But what if, instead, you did things the Rube Goldberg way? Endlessly entertaining, needlessly complex, and ach

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