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Structures: Or Why Things Don't Fall Down | 
 enlarge | Author: J.e. Gordon
Publisher: Da Capo Press
Category: Book
List Price: $18.95
Buy New: $11.20
You Save: $7.75 (41%)
New (28) Used (12) from $9.00
Avg. Customer Rating:  16 reviews
Sales Rank: 212711
Media: Paperback
Edition: 1
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 424
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.2
Dimensions (in): 9 x 5.9 x 1.1
ISBN: 0306812835
Dewey Decimal Number: 624.171
EAN: 9780306812835
ASIN: 0306812835
Publication Date: July 9, 2003
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
For anyone who has ever wondered why suspension bridges don't collapse under eight lanes of traffic, how dams hold back-or give way under-thousands of gallons of water, or what principles guide the design of a skyscraper or a kangaroo, this book will ease your anxiety and answer your questions. J. E. Gordon strips engineering of its confusing technical terms, communicating its founding principles in accessible, witty prose.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 11 more reviews...
 Simultaneous Enlightenment and Enjoyment September 16, 2008
This book is widely regarded as a masterpiece, and deservedly so. Thank goodness it's still in print!
From cover to cover, the book is packed with deep and valuable insights into the behavior and design of structures, including the natural structures "designed" by evolutionary processes. And at the same time, the book is written in a delightfully chatty and unpretentious style which makes it a joy to read, and often even something of a page turner.
The ideal audience is probably structural engineers, and even seasoned ones are sure to learn a thing or two. But most interested lay readers can also benefit from the book, and the author has clearly made a sincere effort to help bring the subject within their grasp.
This book gets my highest possible recommendation, and the price is so low that there's no reason to hesitate to purchase it.
Finally, an engineering book that's won't make you go insane November 29, 2007
I'm a starting-out engineer with a degree in aerospace. This is the sort of book that I would've "wanted" to read while in school. I personally haven't had chance to use 90% of what I've learned in school. But this book has opened my eyes to the root of what we do as engineers. Not something that'll get you a better grade in school. Instead, it will motivate you to really learn the most basic and important thing in engineering and to realize how important and crucial what we do at work are. 100% recommended for all my fellow engineering geeks out there!
"Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul..." October 18, 2007
The author, who worked as an aeronautical engineer during the war, was fond of asking his colleages "but shouldn't we put feathers on the wings". That his answer effected an instrument design of my own is strange enough, but it's his persistence in asking such a question well into middle age that is perhaps of higher value. It illustrates the childlike joy that marks the pleasures of engineering. In another example, a drawing of a wing feather showing the quill not centered but close to the leading edge provides a vivid punchline to the story of the development of the mono-plane. How putting struts in the center of their wings made them twist off when pulling out of a dive - resulting in the deaths of many Fokker pilots. He deepens our understanding of shear stresses through examples of form-fitting cocktail dresses made of fabrics cut 'on the bias' - heightening my appreciation both for the human form and Poisson's Ratio. That a book on structural enginnering was a pleasure to read was a surprise. That it was un-put-downable boggles the mind. He enables what we most hope for and least expect from a book: to see the world afresh.
Maybe its just me, but I learned more from this book than in the U June 15, 2006
0 out of 3 found this review helpful
I must confess I had a terrible time in the U making my degree in mechanical engineering.. stregth of materials almost made me mad.
But as Twain said it, I have not let my schooling interfere with my education... and this are the books that educate.. for education can only be self-education... this is what I was after in the U and I never received it!!!
I go futher with this assertion, the progress of the US (and some other advanced nations) above all the rest lies in the fact that popularizations of science and technology are readibly accesible to everyone (for all of those who want to use it, of course).. if anyone ever doubts the positive effects of globalization and the internet, I can testify that ever since I can use Amazon I can tap into the resources of knowledge previously denied by geographical barriers and help the system that produces this books.
Getting back to the book, no matter what your schooling is, if you are into design and need to know about structures you cannot go wrong with this wonderful book.
 TEDIOUS READING June 3, 2005
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
I'M PROBABLY THE ODD MAN OUT ON THIS ONE BUT I HAD TROUBLE WADING THROUGH THIS BOOK..IN FACT I THOUGHT THE WRITING STYLE WAS GROPING AND STUMBLING AT BEST. WRITING ABOUT STRUCTURES IN SIMLPE TERMS IS A TOUGH TASK INDEED AND I'M NOT SURE GORDON HAS SUCEEDED HERE. I FOUND THE BOOK TO BE A REAL "YAWNER".
FOR MY MONEY I WOULD BUY SALVADORI'S BOOKS OVER THIS. SALVADORI HAS A KNACK FOR MAKING THE SUBJECT TRULY GRIPPING READING. HIS BOOKS HAVE A MUCH MORE PRACTICAL BENT, AND IMHO THEY ARE WRITTEN MUCH BETTER, NOT TO MENTION THE ILLUSTRATIONS ARE TOP GRADE. TRY STRUCTURE IN ARCHITECTURE OR WHY BUILDINGS STAND UP.
THE 2 STARS ARE FOR GORDON'S DISCUSSION OF STRESS AND STRAIN, THE BEST PART OF THE BOOK FOR ME.
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