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The Way Things Work

210 statements
40 feature instances
16 referencing feature instances

The Way Things Work	type	TVTItem
The Way Things Work	label	The Way Things Work
The Way Things Work	page	TheWayThingsWork
The Way Things Work	comment	The Way Things Work is a 1988 science book by David Macaulay with Neil Ardley, which explains the way things work, from simple levers to computers, flight simulators and robots. The workings of machines are shown in cutaway illustrations, often depicting giant versions of machines operated by people moving about inside (or in some cases, by angels), while the principles behind them are often described through humorous stories involving woolly mammoths.It informed the TV series Cro, on which Macaulay himself was a writer, and spawned it's own short-lived cartoon series from 2001 to 2002. The book also received two Updated Re-Releases, as The New Way Things Work in 1998 and The Way Things Work Now in 2016.
The Way Things Work	fetched	2023-09-29T12:16:06Z
The Way Things Work	parsed	2023-09-29T12:16:06Z
The Way Things Work	processingComment	Dropped link to AnAesop: Not a Feature - IGNORE
The Way Things Work	processingComment	Dropped link to BlackHumor: Not a Feature - IGNORE
The Way Things Work	isPartOf	DBTropes
The Way Things Work / int_1b2b1d2c	type	Violation of Common Sense
The Way Things Work / int_1b2b1d2c	comment	Violation of Common Sense: Mammoth certainly considers the idea of 'pumpkin' and 'no-pumpkin' being equally important in Bill's world to be this. Downplayed in that this is exactly how bits work in digital technology and Mammoth just has trouble getting his head around the concept.
The Way Things Work / int_1b2b1d2c	featureApplicability	1.0
The Way Things Work / int_1b2b1d2c	featureConfidence	1.0
The Way Things Work	hasFeature	The Way Things Work / int_1b2b1d2c
The Way Things Work / int_2533afde	type	Static Electricity
The Way Things Work / int_2533afde	comment	Static Electricity: After a mammoth's hair has been lovingly combed, an assortment of litter, loose laundry and stray cats attach themselves to the mammoth.
The Way Things Work / int_2533afde	featureApplicability	1.0
The Way Things Work / int_2533afde	featureConfidence	1.0
The Way Things Work	hasFeature	The Way Things Work / int_2533afde
The Way Things Work / int_3149c4b0	type	It Will Never Catch On
The Way Things Work / int_3149c4b0	comment	It Will Never Catch On: The inventor character finds it "ludicrous" when a colleague suggests he makes a mammoth-fan that is powered by a stream of water rather a stream of men jumping on to a mattress. He also doubts that the familiar shape taken by a bandaged mammoth in the flying chapter could ever get off the ground.
The Way Things Work / int_3149c4b0	featureApplicability	1.0
The Way Things Work / int_3149c4b0	featureConfidence	1.0
The Way Things Work	hasFeature	The Way Things Work / int_3149c4b0
The Way Things Work / int_40cc0c7e	type	Bittersweet Ending
The Way Things Work / int_40cc0c7e	comment	Bittersweet Ending: The ending of The Last Mammoth. Mammoth fails to find others of his species, meaning mammoths as a whole will most likely go extinct when he dies. Nor does he want anything to do with digital technology But he has pumpkin pie and chocolate-coated apples to replace swamp grass, which itself will soon go extinct, and a friend in Bill.
The Way Things Work / int_40cc0c7e	featureApplicability	1.0
The Way Things Work / int_40cc0c7e	featureConfidence	1.0
The Way Things Work	hasFeature	The Way Things Work / int_40cc0c7e
The Way Things Work / int_42502bbe	type	Updated Re-release
The Way Things Work / int_42502bbe	comment	Updated Re Release: Done twice. The New Way Things Work (1998) omitted several pages, but included an updated and expanded chapter on digital technology and computers, accompanied by the story of The Last Mammoth. The Way Things Work Now (2016) updates certain sections with examples of more modern machines for each principle, such as touch screens, hybrid cars, drones and blu-ray players.
The Way Things Work / int_42502bbe	featureApplicability	1.0
The Way Things Work / int_42502bbe	featureConfidence	1.0
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The Way Things Work / int_5009999d	type	Painting the Medium
The Way Things Work / int_5009999d	comment	Painting the Medium: On the entry for suction machines, there is a mammoth with suction cup shoes on the line that separates the title from the other machines. The entry for the wedge has the title split into pieces by an axe.
The Way Things Work / int_5009999d	featureApplicability	1.0
The Way Things Work / int_5009999d	featureConfidence	1.0
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The Way Things Work / int_52748705	type	Bamboo Technology
The Way Things Work / int_52748705	comment	Bamboo Technology: A regular feature of the mammoth stories. Many of the giant machines are effectively bamboo technology versions of the modern appliances too.
The Way Things Work / int_52748705	featureApplicability	1.0
The Way Things Work / int_52748705	featureConfidence	1.0
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The Way Things Work / int_54fb42f0	type	Gravity Is a Harsh Mistress
The Way Things Work / int_54fb42f0	comment	Gravity Is a Harsh Mistress: The recurring problem with flying mammoths is that, the moment the wind drops, so do they. Quite forcefully and destructively.
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The Way Things Work / int_54fb42f0	featureConfidence	1.0
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The Way Things Work / int_66f59ad	type	Balloonacy
The Way Things Work / int_66f59ad	comment	Balloonacy: The unfortunate mammoth in the chapter on floating ends up the recipient of this when his rubber costume spontaneously inflates.
The Way Things Work / int_66f59ad	featureApplicability	1.0
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The Way Things Work / int_68c3842b	type	Labcoat of Science and Medicine
The Way Things Work / int_68c3842b	comment	Labcoat of Science and Medicine: When Mammoth enters the digital domain, he is surrounded by white-coated workers who record every aspect of his physical being.
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The Way Things Work / int_6d37976e	type	Currency Cuisine
The Way Things Work / int_6d37976e	comment	The chapter on printing techniques features a sequel story detailing the creation of banknotes. Unfortunately, the money is printed using leaves, which mammoths like to eat.
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The Way Things Work / int_7464705c	type	Arc Words
The Way Things Work / int_7464705c	comment	Arc Words: Bill repeatedly says "That's progress!" in relation to how his Digital Domain works, foreshadowing the rise of digital technology in real life (at the time the chapter was penned).
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The Way Things Work / int_7636678a	type	Tree Buchet
The Way Things Work / int_7636678a	comment	Tree Buchet: Happens to an unfortunate farmer courtesy of Eek, a Mouse!! from his mammoth helper. The story is used to illustrate the principle of springs in action.
The Way Things Work / int_7636678a	featureApplicability	1.0
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The Way Things Work / int_7eb2bc15	type	Ambiguous Time Period
The Way Things Work / int_7eb2bc15	comment	Ambiguous Time Period: It's not clear when, or indeed where, the mammoth stories take place. They certainly seem to occur long after the real extinction of the mammoth, but the technology is wood-and-stone-based, and the people living with mammoths don't seem to use metals (though evidently they live in a world where other people do, since they've come up with a rudimentary metal detector).
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The Way Things Work / int_87f5a0c	type	Bandage Mummy
The Way Things Work / int_87f5a0c	comment	He also doubts that the familiar shape taken by a bandaged mammoth in the flying chapter could ever get off the ground.
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The Way Things Work / int_8ace85ef	type	Audience Surrogate
The Way Things Work / int_8ace85ef	comment	Audience Surrogate: Mammoth in The Last Mammoth serves as this as he journeys through the Digital Domain, confused and bewildered by the way Bill's machines work. The text following the first chapter emphasizes this by stating that, just like Mammoth, many normal people struggle to comprehend the principles of digital technology despite it's ubiquity today.
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The Way Things Work / int_8ace85ef	featureConfidence	1.0
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The Way Things Work / int_8b525912	type	Sufficiently Advanced Bamboo Technology
The Way Things Work / int_8b525912	comment	Sufficiently Advanced Bamboo Technology: Somehow, somebody in the land of the mammoths managed to build a working nuclear power plant. Meanwhile, Bill has somehow managed to simulate the workings of computers and virtual reality using pumpkins, apples and melted chocolate.
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The Way Things Work / int_8d0785d5	type	Didn't Think This Through
The Way Things Work / int_8d0785d5	comment	Didn't Think This Through: The chapter on floating and sinking has a man trying to load his obviously too-small raft ferry with a huge, heavy mammoth - a mammoth that already isn’t terribly enthused by the idea. Inevitably, the weight of the mammoth is too much and the tiny raft sinks. The interactive CD game proves that it's a bad idea to have a mammoth owned by a logger calculate your restaurant bill. He'll get the total amount right, but in the form of logs which smash your dinner table. Bill in The Last Mammoth offers Mammoth companionship, but doesn't explicitly state what that will involve (see Exact Words below). While the results of his gathering and processing data on Mammoth result in a flawless VR simulation, it works too well and Mammoth's feelings are hurt as a result.
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The Way Things Work / int_9139687c	type	Hates Baths
The Way Things Work / int_9139687c	comment	Hates Baths: All mammoths, apparently. The struggle to get one mammoth into a bath is used to illustrate the concepts of friction and lubrication.
The Way Things Work / int_9139687c	featureApplicability	1.0
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The Way Things Work	hasFeature	The Way Things Work / int_9139687c
The Way Things Work / int_95bca4c9	type	Tuckerization
The Way Things Work / int_95bca4c9	comment	Tuckerization: In "Part 5: The Digital Domain", the owner of the digital domain is a clear reference to Bill Gates.
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The Way Things Work / int_a2ff4e6f	type	Single Tear
The Way Things Work / int_a2ff4e6f	comment	Single Tear: Mammoth sheds one of these out of loneliness, big enough to complete drench Bill's tennis shoes.
The Way Things Work / int_a2ff4e6f	featureApplicability	1.0
The Way Things Work / int_a2ff4e6f	featureConfidence	1.0
The Way Things Work	hasFeature	The Way Things Work / int_a2ff4e6f
The Way Things Work / int_a56753ec	type	Elephants Are Scared of Mice
The Way Things Work / int_a56753ec	comment	Elephants Are Scared of Mice: Mammoths certainly are, if the story from the chapter on springs is anything to go by. Apparently, it runs in the family. One use of this is that when a mammoth has warmed your bed for you, you simply make squeaking noises to get the mammoth out.
The Way Things Work / int_a56753ec	featureApplicability	1.0
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The Way Things Work / int_a6ff7243	type	Hates Being Touched
The Way Things Work / int_a6ff7243	comment	Hates Being Touched: Also all mammoths, which means that milking them requires lifting them off their feet with a system of pulleys to stop them running away
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The Way Things Work / int_a87f3f7e	type	Giant Food
The Way Things Work / int_a87f3f7e	comment	Giant Food: The chapter on cams and cranks opens with a story detailing a mammoth-powered mechanism used to create giant omelettes.
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The Way Things Work / int_ad1db87c	type	Oh, Crap!
The Way Things Work / int_ad1db87c	comment	Oh, Crap!: The inventor has a mild case of this when he notes the agitated state of a mammoth getting its tusks trimmed by careless attendants. Seconds later, he’s proven right - and gets a good demonstration of the principles of the third-class lever into the bargain.
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The Way Things Work / int_b49e24b0	type	Honorable Elephant
The Way Things Work / int_b49e24b0	comment	Honorable Mammoth: While often dopey and with the personality of small children, the mammoths are portrayed as gentle creatures unless provoked. Played straight in one chapter, where a knight's mammoth figures out the concept of screws on his own and uses it to help save a princess.
The Way Things Work / int_b49e24b0	featureApplicability	1.0
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The Way Things Work / int_b8e38fc5	type	Metaphorically True
The Way Things Work / int_b8e38fc5	comment	Metaphorically True: The inventor character of the mammoth stories is smart enough to recognise the mechanical/scientific principles in front of him, but he doesn’t have the vocabulary to describe it. His explanations for what he observes, while hampered by this limited understanding, do contain elements of truth which the book itself elaborates on. Also goes for Bill's offer of "companionship" to Mammoth (see Exact Words above).
The Way Things Work / int_b8e38fc5	featureApplicability	1.0
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The Way Things Work / int_ba59ac1f	type	Technophobia
The Way Things Work / int_ba59ac1f	comment	Technophobia: Mammoth in The Last Mammoth is a downplayed version of this, specifically in regards to digital technology. While much of the digital domain impresses him, there's also plenty about it that confuses him, and in the end he decides he'd rather not have anything to do with it.
The Way Things Work / int_ba59ac1f	featureApplicability	1.0
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The Way Things Work / int_bf1b02b	type	Fictional Currency
The Way Things Work / int_bf1b02b	comment	Fictional Currency: When explaining mechanical parking meters, the original 1988 print of the book told of a "mammoth" coin which bought two hours, a "hog" which bought one hour, and a "chicken" which bought a mere twelve minutes. The chapter on printing techniques features a sequel story detailing the creation of banknotes. Unfortunately, the money is printed using leaves, which mammoths like to eat.
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The Way Things Work / int_c53d32bb	type	Inertia Is a Cruel Mistress
The Way Things Work / int_c53d32bb	comment	Inertia Is a Cruel Mistress: And a mammoth has a lot of inertia. Especially one on a unicycle.
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The Way Things Work / int_ce9f550c	type	My Hovercraft Is Full of Eels
The Way Things Work / int_ce9f550c	comment	My Hovercraft Is Full of Eels: Played for Laughs in the chapter on telecommunication. While the inventor's idea of using catapulted boulders to represent letters is sound, he reckons without the tribespeople's atrocious spelling, which leads to so many unintentional insults that they stop communicating altogether.
The Way Things Work / int_ce9f550c	featureApplicability	1.0
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The Way Things Work / int_d028ca10	type	Deliberately Monochrome
The Way Things Work / int_d028ca10	comment	Deliberately Monochrome: Each double-page spread of the book alternates between colour illustrations, and a dark brown sepia-like theme.
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The Way Things Work / int_d148b019	type	Mundane Made Awesome
The Way Things Work / int_d148b019	comment	Mundane Made Awesome: Many of the illustrations of giant machines invoke this. Special mention should be made of the illustration which introduces the "Harnessing The Elements" section of the book, depicting a host of angels working on the world's first whoopee cushion.
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The Way Things Work / int_e144beb6	type	Everything Is an Instrument
The Way Things Work / int_e144beb6	comment	Everything Is an Instrument: The section "Sound and music" begins with a story of "playing the mammoth", in which musicians try to make music from a tethered mammoth by thumping its belly, plucking its stretched tail, and tapping its tusks; and the mammoth joins in, by making sounds from its trunk.
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The Way Things Work / int_e26f04b4	type	Last of His Kind
The Way Things Work / int_e26f04b4	comment	Last of His Kind: Mammoth in The Last Mammoth, who enters Bill's digital domain in the hope of companionship.
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The Way Things Work / int_e3ebcc2d	type	Animal Jingoism
The Way Things Work / int_e3ebcc2d	comment	Animal Jingoism: The illustration for the vacuum cleaner has a cat being sucked up, and a couple of mice looking very pleased with their work.
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The Way Things Work / int_e9e35e8f	type	Exact Words
The Way Things Work / int_e9e35e8f	comment	Also goes for Bill's offer of "companionship" to Mammoth (see Exact Words above).
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The Way Things Work / int_f629e042	type	Stone Punk
The Way Things Work / int_f629e042	comment	Stone Punk: Often invoked not only in the mammoth stories, but also many of the technical illustrations.
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The Way Things Work / int_fccd06b6	type	Beware the Nice Ones
The Way Things Work / int_fccd06b6	comment	Beware the Nice Ones: Mammoths are generally slow to anger, but the consequences of these several-tonne animals losing their temper are suitably destructive. On Tusk Trimming And Attendant Problems shows what happens when a mammoth getting her tusks trimmed loses patience with the careless attendants. The Digital Domain has Mammoth, after mistaking a virtual mammoth for a real one and trying to kiss it, fly into a rage and smash the makeshift VR helmet to pieces.
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The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

The Way Things Work	hasFeature	Animal Sweet on Object / int_5ba3bd61
The Way Things Work	hasFeature	Deliberately Monochrome / int_5ba3bd61
The Way Things Work	hasFeature	Domesticated Dinosaurs / int_5ba3bd61
The Way Things Work	hasFeature	Elephantine Fiction / int_5ba3bd61
The Way Things Work	hasFeature	Elephants Are Scared of Mice / int_5ba3bd61
The Way Things Work	hasFeature	Everything Is an Instrument / int_5ba3bd61
The Way Things Work	hasFeature	Fictional Currency / int_5ba3bd61
The Way Things Work	hasFeature	Hates Baths / int_5ba3bd61
The Way Things Work	hasFeature	Inventing the Wheel / int_5ba3bd61
The Way Things Work	hasFeature	Nature Abhors a Vacuum Cleaner / int_5ba3bd61
The Way Things Work	hasFeature	Screen Tap / int_5ba3bd61
The Way Things Work	hasFeature	Single Tear / int_5ba3bd61
The Way Things Work	hasFeature	Static Electricity / int_5ba3bd61
The Way Things Work	hasFeature	Stone Punk / int_5ba3bd61
The Way Things Work	hasFeature	Tree Buchet / int_5ba3bd61
The Way Things Work	hasFeature	Wheel of Pain / int_5ba3bd61

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