Built: The Hidden Stories Behind our Structures

While our cities are full of incredible engineering feats, most of us live with little idea of what goes into creating the built environment, let alone how a new building goes up, what it is built upon, or how it remains standing.

In this book, Roma Agrawal, the engineer behind the Shard, uncovers the astonishing science behind her profession. Each of the eight chapters will tackle a great engineering challenge—how we keep a building from falling down or how a bridge is built to span vast distances—explaining solutions from modern times, while reaching back to the Romans and other ancient cultures who developed techniques still used today. Interweaving science, history, illustrations, and personal stories, Built offers a fascinating window into a subject that makes up the foundation of our everyday lives.