Book excerpt: For anyone curious about the nuts and bolts of human ingenuity, How Things Are Made is a fascinating exploration of the process behind the manufacture of everyday items. What are bulletproof vests made of? How do manufacturers get lipstick into the tube? How many layers are there in an iPhone screen? The answers to these questions and so much more fascinating information can be found in How Things Are Made, a behind-the-scenes look at the production everyday objects of all kinds, from guitars, sunscreen, and seismographs to running shoes, jet engines, and chocolate. Thoroughly revised and redesigned from the best-selling 1995 edition, How Things Are Made also contains three new entries by author Andrew Terranova. However, each page still contains informative step-by-step text along with detailed but easy-to-follow illustrations, diagrams, and sidebars to tell the stories behind the things we sometimes take for granted. For example, did you know that Edison didn't really invent the light bulb? Or that the first bar code was on a pack of Wrigley's Spearmint gum? Or that a maple seed inspired the design for the helicopter? Discover these fascinating anecdotes and much more in How Things Are Made.