Amazing and Wonderful Mind Machines You Can Build (Paperback)

~ (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Top of the Mountain Publishing; 3rd edition (June 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1560870753
• ISBN-13: 978-1560870753
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #125,838 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

81 of 84 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars in a class by itself, March 28, 2004

By	Jon Norris (Oregon, USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

This is a strange and fun little book that challenges one's understanding of the world as we are told it exists. The ideas and devices discussed herein are "impossible" or "frauds" by the standards of some. The trouble is, they work! Maybe not always and for everyone, but they work often enough for some pretty level-headed engineer types like John Campbell and G. Harry Stine to be convinced. Campbell was the famous (some would say infamous) editor of Analog magazine during its heyday, and Stine worked as an engineer in the aerospace industry. I have personally used dowsing rods and they worked for me even though I didn't believe they would work at all. (It was a very strange feeling when they moved, too.)

The book covers such things as pyramids, dowsing rods, energy wheels, and a couple of "strange machines" called the Hieronymus machine (after its inventor) and the Wishing Machine. It even delves into the realm of "symbolic machines," variations of these devices which work even if only the schematic is used. Stine discusses his introduction to these devices, his experiments with them, people's reactions to them, and directions/methods for further research. Although not mentioned in this book, other countries, such as the former USSR, researched such things heavily, and are rumored to have made some very strange and possibly dangerous strides in this field which they call "energetics."

If you think that there is no scientific basis for any of this, you are not current in cutting-edge physics (which is in turn billions of years behind the Universe itself). The work of Myron Evans in O(3) Electrodynamics, Sach's Unified Field Theory, and Michael Leyton's work in higher dimensional symmetry, among others, give plenty of theoretical basis for these beasties to function...

Those who think such things are frauds should not waste their time here. This book is for people who are rational, open-minded, and believe in the empirical part of scientific method. Try them and decide for yourself, unless you prefer to let others do all your thinking for you. Remember, all great scientific breakthroughs were fought tooth and nail by the "keepers of the status quo" of their time.

This book is for people who want to push the envelope, not hide in it.

41 of 45 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars quirky but fascinating, November 9, 2003

By	DRYWASHER-BILL (LAS VEGAS, NEVADA) - See all my reviews

this is a really neat little book that focuses on gadgets that you can build, along with some that you only have to draw. I have tried a few of these in the past, and for whatever reason, they work without a hitch; EVEN WHEN THEY SHOULD NOT WORK AT ALL. SOME MACHINES IN THE BOOK ONLY NEED BE DRAWN, AND THEY WORK AS IF IT WAS AN ACTUAL PHYSICAL CONTRAPTION!
This book represents plans and 'machines' the author made himself, following plans from other inventors and experimenters. He mentions other curious machines and theories, but, unfortunately for all of us, did not include any of those, as he felt they were 'unverified' by him. It would have been an interesting trail to follow if he would have. (Of course, for all of us tinkerers, how would it have been if Tesla had left simpler plans for us too?).
The ideas and machines in this book date from the 1950's. Even one of the 'battery-powered' ones does not need any batteries to work- just a schematic sketch of one! Strange but true.

40 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing!, June 1, 1999

By A Customer

Definately a "specialty" book (ie not for everyone). I have constructed most of the devices in the book and all have worked. Some of the machines were slightly technical, but easy to understand with a basic grasp for electronics. Buy it, it will be worth the twelve bucks.