Book request fun

Uni students make smashingly good use of the University Library's book request system. Every once in awhile I'm stopped dead in my tracks by the arrival of a book that is especially unique, fascinating, or just plain wacko. Today, Adam J. is letting me wax on about his latest request, Handbook of Pyrotechnics, by Karl O. Brauer. I love that it has chapter titles like "Piston and Bellows Devices" and "Explosive Nuts" (yes, take that last one where you want to take it). In fact, this book is a real technical manual, all black-and-white and quite dull-looking, even the section on grey, yellow, red, green, and blue smoke producers. Just check out the scintillating caption for this image:

Operation scheme of an explosive-actuated nut