Ready the Cannons!

From the author of Backyard Ballistics comes this new DIY handbook on building cannons and other fun things that shoot, from wiffle ball launchers and beverage bottle bazookas to super-powered water guns and model culverins. It combines military history and physics with do-it-yourself projects. Now ordinary folks can construct a dozen awesome artillery devices in their garage or basement workshops using inexpensive household or hardware store materials and this step-by-step guide. Clear instructions, diagrams, and photographs show how to build projects ranging from the simple supersonic ping-pong ball shooter to the more complex replica of the Napoleon Cannon. With a strong emphasis on safety, the book also gives tips on troubleshooting, tells the history of how and when the artillery devices were used, and explains the physics behind the projects. This book will be indispensable for the legions of backyard watergunners, model-rocket launchers, and fireworks fanatics who wish every day was the fourth of July.

William Gurstelle is the author of Defending Your Castle, Absinthe & Flamethrowers; The Art of the Catapult; Backyard Ballistics; Building Bots; Notes from the Technology Underground; and Whoosh, Boom, Splat. He is a professional engineer who has been researching and building model catapults and ballistic devices for more than 30 years and is a contributing editor at Popular Mechanics, a columnist for Make magazine, and writes frequently for the Atlantic, Maxim, and Wired as well as other national magazines. He lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota.