Tools A visual exploration of implements and devices in the workshop

Compiled by someone who openly admits that he's more at ease with tools than people, Tools will introduce readers to over 100 tools from simple household companions like hammers, pliers, and screwdrivers to more intimidating ones like Mikrokators, chain saws, and pantographs. Similar in format to a woodland field guide, each entry provides high-quality color photos by Nick Mann and concise, thoughtful, explanations of history, design, and function. Gray's attitude about tools is candid and frequently playful; pipe wrenches are described as "nasty brutes." This is definitely not a do-it-yourself book. Rather, it is a good-natured examination of tools as objects of human activity: "Tools are not just incidental to life. Civilizations are defined by the tools they used." This guide is confidently recommended for public-library collections. Although unquestionably authoritative, it does not take itself too seriously, and the author's droll humor will help even the mosttimid workshop novice get comfortable with tools.

With a table of contents presented as a periodic table of roughly 100 types of tools, this book opens in delight. The tools range from traditional objects (hammers, drills) to the most modern of implements, such as the 3D printer. Every entry gets a two-page spread with a large photograph and an entertaining, often humorous, text chock-full of advice. A maker's--and browser's-- tool chest of wonder.