The History Channel Presents Modern Marvels – Architectural Wonders [$35.99]
For the curious-minded who wonder how things work and how things get made in the first place, these History Channel collections are splendid gifts. The technology set covers a nice range of topics, from the geek-friendly investigation of James Bond’s gadgets to the method of making candy. It goes from a basic fundamental like the science of sugar all the way to technology’s most menacing developmental extreme, the nuclear bombs created out of the work of the Manhattan Project. Science plays a great role, too, in the architectural side of the series. Covering a wide swath of human history, this set spans the most spectacular creations of the ancient world in the Eygytian pyramids and the Great Wall of China up to the 20th century and the construction of the Empire State Building and the Golden Gate Bridge. These are wonderful and affordable collections for the science nut and the intellectually curious alike.