'Mythbusters' TV star Adam Savage's first book is out. 'Every Tool's a Hammer: Life Is What You Make It' is a wonderful read, in which Adam shares his own personal guidelines for creativity, from inspiration to execution.
In 'Every Tool's a Hammer,' the sci-tech TV host and longtime Boing Boing pal encourages each of us to explore, build, make, invent, and fully enjoy the thrill of being alive and capable of creating.
It's a wonderful book, and couldn't come out at a more perfect time. We've got a lot of building and creating to do.
It's his first book, and he's out on his book tour right now. Info on the book and the tour at adamsavagebook.com.
From Adam and his team, about the book:
"Every Tool's a Hammer is a chronicle of my life as a maker. It's an exploration of making and of my own productive obsessions, but it's also a permission slip of sorts from me to you. Permission to grab hold of the things you're interested in, that fascinate you, and to dive deeper into them to see where they lead you.
Through stories from forty-plus years of making and molding, building and breaking, along with the lessons I learned along the way, this book is meant to be a toolbox of problem solving, complete with a shop's worth of notes on the tools, techniques, and materials that I use most often.
Things like——don't wait until everything is perfect to begin a project, and if you don't have the exact right tool for a task, just use whatever's handy; Increase Your Loose Tolerance—making is messy and filled with screwups, but that's okay, as creativity is a path with twists and turns and not a straight line to be found; Use More Cooling Fluid—it prolongs the life of blades and bits, and it prevents tool failure, but beyond that it's a reminder to slow down and reduce the friction in your work and relationships; Screw Before You Glue—mechanical fasteners allow you to change and modify a project while glue is forever but sometimes you just need the right glue, so I dig into which ones will do the job with the least harm and best effects.
This toolbox also includes lessons from many other incredible makers and creators, including: Jamie Hyneman, Nick Offerman, Pixar director Andrew Stanton, Oscar-winner Guillermo del Toro, artist Tom Sachs, and chef Traci Des Jardins.
And if everything goes well, we will hopefully save you a few mistakes (and maybe fingers) as well as help you turn your curiosities into creations.
I hope this book inspires you to build, make, invent, explore, and—most of all—enjoy the thrills of being a creator."