How Was That Built?: The Stories Behind Awesome Structures
- Downloads：2894
- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2022-10-11 06:53:05
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Roma Agrawal
- ISBN：154760929X
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
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Summary
This striking book explains the feats of engineering behind the world's most impressive architectural marvels。
From skyscrapers that reach astonishing heights to bridges that span deep and wide rivers， the world is filled with awe-inspiring structures。 But how do they work？
Meet the extraordinary people who challenged our beliefs about what's possible， pioneering remarkable inventions that helped build the Brooklyn Bridge in the US， the Pantheon in Italy， the Burj Khalifa in Dubai， the Shard in England and the Sapporo Dome in Japan。 Discover the ingenious methods engineers have come up with to enable us to build underground， underwater， on ice， and even in space。
With text written by award-winning structural engineer Roma Agrawal and detailed full-color illustrations by Katie Hickey， this book provides unique and illuminating perspectives of the world's most incredible constructions。 How Was That Built？ is a perfect gift for curious kids who want to learn more about construction， architecture， science， technology， and the way things work。
This children's picture book also serves as a fascinating companion to the author's adult nonfiction book Built: The Hidden Stories Behind our Structures， winner of the AAAS/Subaru SB&F Prize for Excellence in Science Books。
From skyscrapers that reach astonishing heights to bridges that span deep and wide rivers， the world is filled with awe-inspiring structures。 But how do they work？
Meet the extraordinary people who challenged our beliefs about what's possible， pioneering remarkable inventions that helped build the Brooklyn Bridge in the US， the Pantheon in Italy， the Burj Khalifa in Dubai， the Shard in England and the Sapporo Dome in Japan。 Discover the ingenious methods engineers have come up with to enable us to build underground， underwater， on ice， and even in space。
With text written by award-winning structural engineer Roma Agrawal and detailed full-color illustrations by Katie Hickey， this book provides unique and illuminating perspectives of the world's most incredible constructions。 How Was That Built？ is a perfect gift for curious kids who want to learn more about construction， architecture， science， technology， and the way things work。
This children's picture book also serves as a fascinating companion to the author's adult nonfiction book Built: The Hidden Stories Behind our Structures， winner of the AAAS/Subaru SB&F Prize for Excellence in Science Books。
Reviews
R Schjelde
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This book is just amazing！ Judging by its cover， you would think it is a book that will just go into the engineering part of how some of the world's most famous structures were built。 Well。。。 Let me tell you， it goes much further than that。 First of all， it is beautifully illustrated with detailed， colourful and accurate paintings。 It goes into great detail on the development and history of a wide variety of buildings from all over the world， it explains how these buildings were the products of This book is just amazing！ Judging by its cover， you would think it is a book that will just go into the engineering part of how some of the world's most famous structures were built。 Well。。。 Let me tell you， it goes much further than that。 First of all， it is beautifully illustrated with detailed， colourful and accurate paintings。 It goes into great detail on the development and history of a wide variety of buildings from all over the world， it explains how these buildings were the products of new innovations in maths， science and chemistry， the book brings you into the skies and deep into the ground， it introduces great （and unknown） people who have ensured that the structures we know today still stand and the book also gives you little experiments that you can do at home to test the science at play。Oh yeah。。。 Did I tell you already that the book is beautifully illustrated！？ Great to suggest to those little engineers in your home or classroom。 。。。more
Laura McCarty-Daniels
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I liked the big towers。
Ms。 Yingling
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Copy provided by the publisherStructural engineer Agrawal discusses some of the most fascinating and architecturally challenging buildings in the world in this middle grade illustrated nonfiction book。 Looking at the buildings through the lens of the design challenges they pose， such as building a structure to be tall， stable， watertight， strong， etc。， we travel around the world to learn about the solutions that were applied to various problems with constructing in certain circumstances。 From sh Copy provided by the publisherStructural engineer Agrawal discusses some of the most fascinating and architecturally challenging buildings in the world in this middle grade illustrated nonfiction book。 Looking at the buildings through the lens of the design challenges they pose， such as building a structure to be tall， stable， watertight， strong， etc。， we travel around the world to learn about the solutions that were applied to various problems with constructing in certain circumstances。 From shoring up the Metropolitan Cathedral in Mexico City that is slowly sinking to the very tall Shard in London （on which Agrawal worked） to the Burj Khalifa in Dubai， each edifice is described， it's history detailed， and its construction technique parsed and connected to other similar buildings。 The architects involved are given brief biographies as well。 There are some very interesting spreads describing different types of architecture and their histories; I particularly liked the explanations of various kinds of bridges。 Hickey's drawings are pleasant to look at but also include a lot of details。 I was especially fond of the little 1960s-ish cars that appear in some pictures！ Included in the book are two things that might not occur to people as "architecture"; the London sewage system and the Thames Tunnel; I love that this is included， and that the Halley VI research station is the example given for building on ice。 There's a ton of information on each page， and at the end of the book there is a brief discussion about the future of building！ There is a glossary of terms used at the end of the book， along with an Engineers' Gallery with brief biographies of engineers not mentioned in the body of the book。 Strengths: I find buildings to be absolutely fascinating， and this gave me a really good look at what goes into the structure of them， and not just the facade。 （One of my superpowers is being able to pretty accurately date most 20th century structures！） While I personally don't want to ever go into the Shard or the Burj Khalifa， it is fascinating to look at how they were made， and how the difficulties in constructing them were addressed。 The drawings are great， and the color palette has a lot of blue and brown， which was soothing and appropriate to the topic。 This is a great book to hand to a student who is involved in Future Cities or loves the STEM design challanges with straws， and I can see them enjoying many happy hours poring over the book and looking up more about the buildings。 Weaknesses: The size of the book， combined with the illustrated cover， means that this might take some handselling to readers interested in engineering and architecture， because it looks like a picture book and not like the comprehensive look at engineering that it is。 What I really think: It would be nice to have included some photographs of the buildings， but readers today are more apt to look things up on their phones than I am。 I don't have a lot of books on architectures， but this one will be a good addition to the collection。 This catapulted me into quite the rabbit hole about the Barbican Centre in London; most younger readers are going to enjoy reading about the extreme sorts of architecture described in this book， but I like things more on a human scale， and am fascinated by the 1970s Brutalist masterpiece that is the Barbican。 。。。more
Kendal
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A great book for younger readers。 There are a variety of topics including historical facts and illustrations complementing the material。 Highly recommend to readers of all ages who are curious to how things are built。
Wafflepirates
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*Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for providing an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review*This is a great nonfiction book for kids （and interested adults too！） all about building。 There's a surprising variety in the topics covered， spanning from how to create a good foundation， to how to build things in outer space。 Each topic is introduced with a main building used as an example of the techniques being talked about。 Alongside the engineering and architectural aspects， there's a lot *Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for providing an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review*This is a great nonfiction book for kids （and interested adults too！） all about building。 There's a surprising variety in the topics covered， spanning from how to create a good foundation， to how to build things in outer space。 Each topic is introduced with a main building used as an example of the techniques being talked about。 Alongside the engineering and architectural aspects， there's a lot of historical info about key figures related to the projects discussed， and the type of materials being used （there's an entire page dedicated to bricks and concrete respectively）。 What I liked the best was the illustrations， they're interesting and engaging， and each page is full of pictures to help show what is being talked about。 There's a great balance between pictures and text， making it accessible for kids and more entertaining to read。 。。。more
Rachel
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This is the perfect book for anyone interested in architecture and engineering。 There is also some historical facts in there for history buffs。 Although it is written for a younger audience it can really be enjoyed by readers of any age。 The illustrations help to explain the concepts being discussed which makes them perfect for younger readers。 I highly recommend this book to school librarians and teachers for their libraries。
Angie Bridget
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This book is really interesting and gives very detailed information about how famous structures were build。 With detailed drawing and diagrams， as well as a variety of non-fiction text features， this book is set up in a way that young readers can learn and explore a variety of scientific and historical concepts。 In Grade 3 we cover structures in Science and while I think that some of the content in this book might be hard for some of my students to understand and read independently， it would be This book is really interesting and gives very detailed information about how famous structures were build。 With detailed drawing and diagrams， as well as a variety of non-fiction text features， this book is set up in a way that young readers can learn and explore a variety of scientific and historical concepts。 In Grade 3 we cover structures in Science and while I think that some of the content in this book might be hard for some of my students to understand and read independently， it would be good for some of my stronger students who want a challenge， and would be a great opportunity for shared or class reading experiences and for students to look at and learn how to sketch buildings from。 I would definitely recommend this book to parents and teachers of children in the age 9-12 range。 Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book！ 。。。more
Constance
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Part coffee table book and part research book。 Gorgeous illustrations and packed with information about the engineering and construction of awesome structures。 Highly recommended！
Dimity Powell
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Mind boggling。 An absolute must for budding engineers and anyone fascinated by the art of building， physics， and construction。
Tina
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Magpies review title
Olga Zuchora
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Rewelacyjna książka dla dzieci zainteresowanych tym jak powstają budowle。 Niesamowicie dużo szczegółów i przykładów z całego świata， które są interesujące również dla dorosłych。
Grrlscientist
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How do engineers adapt their building strategies to different types of soil？ How was the Brooklyn Bridge built？ What structure prevents an elevator from plunging to the bottom of an elevator shaft if the cable holding it up breaks？ How was the Metropolitan Cathedral in Mexico City saved from toppling over into the lake bed （and an ancient Aztec pyramid discovered in the process）？ Or， for that matter， how was Ithaa， the world’s first undersea restaurant， constructed？If you’ve ever pondered questi How do engineers adapt their building strategies to different types of soil？ How was the Brooklyn Bridge built？ What structure prevents an elevator from plunging to the bottom of an elevator shaft if the cable holding it up breaks？ How was the Metropolitan Cathedral in Mexico City saved from toppling over into the lake bed （and an ancient Aztec pyramid discovered in the process）？ Or， for that matter， how was Ithaa， the world’s first undersea restaurant， constructed？If you’ve ever pondered questions like these， then this is the book for you。 Or for your kid， for that matter。 Written by award-winning structural engineer， Roma Agrawal， who most famously built London’s Shard， How Was That Built？ The Stories Behind Awesome Structures （Bloomsbury Children’s Books; 2021） shares the secrets of how a variety of stunning structures and buildings were made。 Separate chapters detail how to build strong， how to build tall， how to build flat， how to build long， how to build on water （or underwater）， how to build underground， how to build on ice， how to build on the moon and so much more。Ms Agrawal， who is Indian-British-American， is also a champion of women and ethnic minorities in engineering。 In this book， we learn a little about Emily Roebling （née Warren）， who almost single-handedly managed the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge at a time when women were often denied an education at all， we meet Ada Lovelace， who invented the world’s first computer algorithms （she also lived at a time when women were often denied an education）， and we are introduced to Katie Kelleher， a female crane operator who works in London right now in a highly male-dominated profession。Some of my favorite parts of this book focused on the natural world， such as how self-healing concrete works， and how engineers are improving building techniques by studying the structures of bird bones and sea urchin skeletons。 And I am always delighted to ponder the Falkirk Wheel in Scotland， which is a bridge in the sky — designed for boats。 I was surprised to learn that the world’s biggest beaver dam， in Wood Buffalo National Park in Alberta， Canada， is so big it can be seen from space！ （In fact， satellite imagery was how it was discovered。） Since I’ve always been fascinated by Polynesians， I was especially interested to discover that Polynesian mythology helped design the innovative Te Matau ā Pohe bascule bridge that spans the Lower Hatea river in New Zealand。Although written for children， this fascinating and accessible book will delight and educate adults， too。 The descriptions are presented in clearly-written bite sized niblets that will especially appeal to younger readers， and these passages are located next to the relevant diagram or painting by illustrator Katie Hickey。 Additionally， home-based activities are suggested throughout the book so children can try simple engineering projects for themselves。In my opinion， this is one of the best children’s books published this year， and you don’t have to be a child or a structural engineer — or a structural engineer wannabe — to enjoy it。 Highly recommended。NOTE: Originally published at Forbes。com on 13 September 2021。 。。。more
Vonprice
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One of the best non-fiction books I've seen！ You can read my full review here:https://vsviewfromthebookshelves。home。。。 One of the best non-fiction books I've seen！ You can read my full review here:https://vsviewfromthebookshelves。home。。。 。。。more
karla_bookishlife
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Absolutely fascinating if you have an interesting in how things are built。 I always wondered about how some of the world's ancient monuments were brought to life。 This book gives you different types of building and gives lots of world famous building and structures as examples。 The illustrations are stunning and I love all the facts added to each one。 Perfect for my son who。loves non fiction books and soaks up facts like a sponge。 I loved learning as I read too！ Definitely one to keep referring Absolutely fascinating if you have an interesting in how things are built。 I always wondered about how some of the world's ancient monuments were brought to life。 This book gives you different types of building and gives lots of world famous building and structures as examples。 The illustrations are stunning and I love all the facts added to each one。 Perfect for my son who。loves non fiction books and soaks up facts like a sponge。 I loved learning as I read too！ Definitely one to keep referring back to and will be useful for school projects！ Such a beautiful book to just pick up and appreciate。 Think we will use it to spark some art too！ Definitely want this in hardback。 Love how it doesn't just focus on land builds， but explores underwater and space too！ 。。。more
Becky
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