Unique Gifts for Men, Picked by Personality

Gift ideas for men, matched to his personality

Glued to his desk

For a man who spends his days in front of a screen, pick something that catches his eye between tasks. The Kinetic Art Sculpture ($38.99) comes with 170 magnetic balls to stack into chains, spirals and towers on its heavy base. The Orbital Solar System Desk Toy ($53.99) keeps its gold and green spheres turning after a single push, and the Teardrop Galileo Thermometer ($99.99) reads the room temperature with five floating balls, with no screen and no battery.

Takes things apart

For him, an object only makes sense once he has built it or watched it run. Most builders need 6 to 10 hours for the V8 Engine Model Kit ($119.99), until the pistons and the crankshaft finally move. The DIY Stirling Engine Kit ($74.99) becomes a working engine once its parts are bolted together, then runs on its own wick. The Robot Dog for Adults ($146.77) has 936 parts and, once built, moves forward and back on voice or remote control.

Always fidgeting

For the man who always has a pen or a paper clip between his fingers, give his hands something better to do during calls and meetings. The Math Puzzles Brain Teaser ($39.90) is a wooden puzzle: turn the rings until the numbers add up to 50. The Metal Oloid ($59.99) rolls across the desk with a steady, hypnotic motion. The Magnetic Stress Balls ($29.99) snap together, hover and roll into each other, with four textures to explore.

A stargazer at heart

For a man who looks up on clear nights, choose something that comes alive once the lights go off. The Galaxy Room Projector ($227.99) projects nebulas, galaxies or the Moon with its four films, and its lens and base adjust to any surface. The Magnetic Solar System ($29.99) keeps a small solar system circling on solar power, and the 3D Puzzle Solar System ($144.99) gives him 316 wooden pieces to assemble into a model of the planets over a few long evenings.

Has an eye for design

Here, science is something to look at as much as to explain. The 3D Hourglass Sand ($59.99) draws 3D dunes grain by grain inside a glass ring, and the Infinity Cube Lamp (from $99.99) creates an illusion of endless depth in a cube of light. For a real centerpiece, the Stirling Engine Plane ($429.99) sets a Stirling-powered propeller on a wooden stand. All three look as good in the living room as on a desk.

Owns every gadget already

Aim for the thing he has never seen anywhere else. The Euler's Disk ($99.99) seems to spin faster and faster as it settles, with a sound that rises in pitch. The Sand Pendulum ($67.99) lets a pendulum trace a new pattern in a tray of sand with every swing, and the Nixie Tube Clock Kit DIY ($314.99) is a clock he builds himself, with four glowing tubes and a remote. More leads on our page for the person who has everything.

What to spend on gifts for him

What makes a good science gift for a husband or boyfriend

A good science gift actually works: it spins, lights up, gets built or measures something. It also comes with a story, from Newton's laws to Galileo's thermometer or the Stirling cycle, which makes it a talking point at work and at home. And it lasts, because it is useful or because it looks good on a shelf. If you are torn between two profiles, think about what he does with his hands on weekends. For a father, see our ideas for dads. For a tech fan, our gifts for geeks, and for a bigger budget, our high-end science gifts.