Guide to Urban Engineering

by Claire Barratt

Spotter's guides traditionally focus on the natural world but if we are to understand the modern landscape it is vital to recognise its manmade features. "Guide to Urban Engineering" provides non-specialist readers with an introduction to the technology that underpins modern life. It is a useful identification tool to the anonymous blocks, unremarkable roads, and often disregarded features of our urban, suburban and rural landscapes. The book is divided into five main areas of Raw materials (including mining, agriculture, waterworks); Power (including electricity grids, power stations, oil and gas extraction and renewable energies); Transport (railways, roads, canals, aviation); Telecommunications (including telephony, radio and television, digital and satellite technology); and Waste (including sewers, industrial waste management, recycling). Each chapter fully explores the various engineering features and structures, detailing what they are, what they do, how they do it, and, most importantly, how to identify them.

224 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 2012

Reviews

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very interesting book examining the day-to-day engineering that is all around us. It is split into several chapters such as transport, power, communication, etc, and each chapter is further split into subjects, most of which cover a double-page spread which makes it very convenient to read. There are lots of photos and diagrams and the text is useful and informative. This book gives a clear insight into what most of us take for granted and shows how the various processes, structures and devices around us actually work and also describes how they came into existence in the first place. Excellent.