This books now collects Gray''s Popular Science columns, along with hundreds of photographs -- many of which are never-before-seen. The second volume includes mad-scientist experiments, which features dramatic, enlightening, and often daring projects, such as demonstrating the Leidenfrost effect; crushing a tomato between two small magnets to show the power of neodymium-iron-boron magnets; and creating trinkets out of solid mercury to demonstrate how the state of matter depends very much on the temperature at which it exists

Other experiments include: