I taught at a school were the final senior project in the Honors Physics class was the invention of a "Rube Goldberg" machine that had to accomplish a task such as making chocolate milk or putting toothpaste on a toothbrush. Goldberg's genius was to "invent" wonderful complicated mechanical solutions (totally tongue in cheek) for the real problems of American life such as a "Simple Way to Carve a Turkey" or "Putting the Cat Out at Night."

For example, here are the instructions for a "Simple Alarm Clock": The early bird (A) arrives and catches worm (B), pulling string (C) and shooting off pistol (D). Bullet (E) bursts balloon (F), dropping brick (G) on bulb (H) of atomizer (I) and shooting perfume (J) on sponge (K). As sponge gains in weight, it lowers itself and pulls string (L), raising end of board (M). Cannon ball (N) drops on nose of sleeping gentleman--String tied to cannon ball releases cork (O) of vacuum bottle (P) and ice water falls on sleeper's face to assist the cannon ball in its good work.

Now, the description alone is pretty good, but add to this Goldberg's illustration in which everything is labeled from A to O (in this case). In "The Best of Rube Golberg," Charles Keller has collected the best of his prolific output to introduce those fascinating contraptions, which made the name Rube Goldberg a household word. Granted, today's children might not recognize his name, but if they have every played "Mousetrap" then they will totally understand the guiding principle at work here. The book is tailored for young children as an introduction to Goldberg's genius. There are dozens of examples from his "Automatic Weight-Reducing Machine" from 1914 to a similar goal in "Every Woman to Have a Perfect Figure" from 1944.