There is hardly any one who has never asked himself - How does it work? Young and old, we often want to come to the point of some things, events or phenomena, both commonplace and extraordinary. This useful volume will probably satisfy some of the inquisitive, offering a range of intelligible descriptions of mechanisms met with in everyday life. The book presents detailed, though simply set out information on steam engines, the conversation of heat energy into mechanical motion, steam turbine, internal-combustion engine, electrical apparatus, electric and wireless telegraph, telephone, dynamos and electric motors, railway brakes and signalling, optics, microscope, telescope and the magic lantern, sound and musical instruments, wind instruments, talking machines, hydraulic machinery, heating and lighting, and various mechanisms.