The front cover of this volume is a moveable design created by Andrew Baron. It is edited by Rube Goldberg's granddaughter Jennifer George.Amazon.com: Rube Goldberg was born in 1883 during the golden age of invention, just eight years after Bell patented his telephone and five years after Edison filed his first light bulb patent. A flood of new machines were developed and commercialized during his youth, and while he produced a wide range of comic art throughout his long career, he's most famous for lampooning our modern fascination with mechanical contraptions.Goldberg started drawing as a young child, grew up to study and work as an engineer, and then combined his love of art and technology, keeping at it with such a consistently witty flair that his name became a household word. More than a humorist, his political cartoons won him both a Pulitzer Prize and such enmity during World War II that he asked his sons to change their family name to George for their own protection. He also wrote a feature film for the Three Stooges and later became an accomplished sculptor. A frequent visitor to the White House, he continued working nearly nonstop until his death in 1970 at the age of 87.This big, wide, full-color book (more than twice the size of a thick hardcover) allows Goldberg's granddaughter Jennifer and six other authors, including Al Jaffee of Mad Magazine fame, to present the man's prolific output in all its glorious variety. The cover itself is a cartoon animated by the swipe of a finger, and the Rube Goldberg device that drives this animation is visible through a plastic window on the back of the cover. Inside are hundreds of illustrations: elaborate but pointless contrivances, tools like pen nibs and drawing tables, photos of the artist at work and play, juvenilia and early work, political cartoons and sculptures, magazine and book covers, letters and family snapshots, advertisements and patents, awards and honors. Seven long essays contain personal reflection, professional appreciation, aesthetic analysis, and historical context. Sidebars present details about his animated cartoons, his wife Irma, and his comic strip and panel series like "Foolish Questions," "The Boob Family," "Boob McNutt," "Mike & Ike -- They Look Alike," "The Weekly Meeting of the Tuesday Ladies Club," "Lala Palooza," "Old Man Alf," "Bertha, the Siberian Cheesehound," and many more. This book is a cluttered, insanely detailed delight that everyone, adults and children alike, will want to spend hours or days perusing. It stands as the definitive introduction and testament to the genius of Rube Goldberg. -- Source of annotation: Marvin or Ruth Sackner.