William Gurstelle is the author of the best-selling 'Backyard Ballistics'. He is also a professional engineer and a technogeek robot builder. Gurstelle and his sons build and compete in the growing number of regional competitions with their own Tosca and Weber the Grillbot. He lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

"Fun and potentially dangerous, this is sure to be a hit at most public libraries. Recommended. Bring your own safety goggles." -- Library Journal

"A great primer for the would-be engineer, and a wonderful chance for bonding among like-minded parents and children...Great fun!" -- Courier-Journal (Louisville, KY)

"How is it possible not to love a book with chapter titles like 'Back Porch Rocketry' and 'Greek Fire and the Catapult?' I devoured this prodigious account of all things explosive." --Homer Hickam, author of Rocket Boys

"Would-be rocketeers, take note: Engineer William Gurstelle has written a book for you." -- Chicago Tribune

"If you want to make a potato soufflé, pick up a book by Julia Child. If you want to decorate your holiday cards with hand-cut potato stamps, look to a Martha Stewart manual. If, however, you'd like to launch a potato in a blazing fireball of combusting hairspray from a PVC pipe, your best source is Backyard Ballistics , by William Gurstelle." -- Time Out New York

"Your inner boy will get a bang out of these 13 devices to build and shoot in your own back yard, some of them noisy enough to legally perk up a 4th of July." -- Dallas Morning News

"How is it possible not to love a book with chapter titles like 'Back Porch Rocketry' and 'Greek Fire and the Catapult?' I devoured this prodigious account of all things explosive." --Homer Hickam, author of Rocket Boys