Bill asks the question "Why a chair?" ... the answer reveals the human aspects of engineering design. He also answers the question, alas, "how many Bills does it take to talk about chairs."

Bill reveals the importance of matches in the 19th century; he shares how adding phosphorous to them revolutionized life - in both good and bad ways.

Bill uses power tools to take apart a photocopier. He shows how it works, and shares the story of its invention by Chester Carlson.

Bill Hammack covers his office floor with trash to see what takes up space in a landfill. He digs through fast food containers and diapers to learn that what we really need is green design of our manufactured objects.

Using a pair of cutters to extract a copper pipe from the ceiling, Bill shows how copper is the "miracle metal" that gives us safe drinking water, and makes our electronic world possible.

Bill invades a cell phone store to show that the design of a mobile isn't arbritary. Engineers uses seven basic principles to create a useful phone.

To learn what's inside a golf ball - and to show how clever engineers are - Bill uses a special cutter to chop one open - well more than one.

Armed with a pair of wire cutters Bill shows how a common thermostat reveals how good industrial designers keep track of the dimensions of a human being.

With his hammer Bill cracks up a cell phone to expose how our electronic gadgets rely on the mineral tantalum - mined as Coltan.

In ths public radio piece Bill reveals the mysteries of the Ice Hotel. In January 2002 Bill visited the Ice Hotel with his wife Amy Somrak and their friends Allan and Pat Tuchman. Located in the arctic circle of Sweden, the hotel's owners rebuild the hotel every year. Temperatures outside the hotel can be as low as 40 degrees below freezing; inside the hotel temperatures are a comparatively warm 9 degrees fahrenheit. In this public radio piece Bill examines the hotel rooms, interviews its designer, and probes the hotel's appeal.