[sansjoe]

Popular Mechanics (and Science in 2nd place) were the best and most impactful tech magazines ever. Every issue answered your already existing questions about how a, b, or c works. It inspired and drove me to learn anything and everything I could about engineering, science, computers, logic, physics, etc. Not all of which I use on a daily basis, but it taught me to understand that tools, widgets and inventions are really the secret to making big and valuable things happen. It taught me to live and believe perhaps to a fault the Einstein quote "Strive not to be a success, rather strive to be of value." The feelings of receiving the latest PM magazine (and saving it until a Saturday morning to read and absorb from cover to cover, then again, and again to happy exhaustion) is an excitement and enthusiasm I doubt I'll ever experience again. Understanding how the rear differential worked originally, and then the limited slip differential upgrade, not only makes My Cousin Vinny one of the best movies of all time one of the best movies of all time, it makes you understand how awesome it is to understand. How is a torque converter different from a clutch? What is the difference bt super-charged and turbo? Why is super-charged better than turbo? Why is cool air better than warmer air in an internal combustion engine in the first place? What is lift? What are the three axes of rotation in flight? What happens to airflow and the airfoil surfaces when the speed of sound is achieved? If you aren't curious and need to know these things, you will probably never be an expert in your chosen sphere. Everything has an analogy, relationships, life, death, business, family. It all starts by understanding how things and people work.

Anyway, Pop Mec was the best ever. Miss it more than I can say.