Rating: 
Summary: nice to read but lacks rigour ...
Review: At times I was annoyed by Mr Gordon's style - this is the work of a real old-world engineer. The little anecdotes he scatters through the work where so-and-so told him something, or it was rumoured that professor somebody said this, or 'I have heard it claimed that.....' annoyed me with their hearsay quality and lack of verifiability. But then there are some very interesting discussions that do make the book an interesting introduction to engineering and the structure of things. I just would have preferred if it read less like an engineer had written it!
Rating: 
Summary: Eccentric
Review: At times I was annoyed by Mr Gordon's style - this is the work of a real old-world engineer. The little anecdotes he scatters through the work where so-and-so told him something, or it was rumoured that professor somebody said this, or 'I have heard it claimed that.....' annoyed me with their hearsay quality and lack of verifiability. But then there are some very interesting discussions that do make the book an interesting introduction to engineering and the structure of things. I just would have preferred if it read less like an engineer had written it!
Rating:
Summary: Very interesting book
Review: I bought this book translated into Spanish. (Ediciones Celeste)ISBN 84-8211-190-6.
I'm Civil (Structural) and Industrial engineer. I found this book with a different vision of our profession. Gordon wants to answer why the things are stable.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent layman's overview or engineer's refresher
Review: I first read both Structures and Gordon's other book, The New Science of Strong Materials, in the early '80's. I have read them several times since, and am constantly trying to find them because I keep giving them away to people. When I read Gordon's explanations of the history and present state of the engineering art, I look at things as diverse as cathedrals and dogs' bladders in a new way. I remember my training in the more equation-heavy disciplines, and I can compare my 16 years of experience in engineering to the words in the book and say, "Oh yes, that's just the way it is," or "Oh, so that's why that happened. Too bad I didn't think of it at the time."
Rating:
Summary: Scientific popularisation at its best.
Review: In the wonderful tradition of Sagan, Cousteau and Asimov, Professor Gordon shows us that science and technology need not be abstruse and tedious, but can be made both pleasant and fascinating. Structures, or Why Things Don't Fall Down stands perfectly well on its own, but the best benefits are to be derived when reading it in tandem with its sister publication, The New Science of Strong Materials. In both books, Professor Gordon strikes the difficult balance between the ease of exposition and the exactness of detail that characterises only the very best of scientific popularisations. He combines his technical presentation with a warm and self-deprecating wit that will have you feeling that you are not being lectured to, so much as enjoying an engaging explanation from a friend. For example, in a typical moment of whimsy, Professor Gordon speculates upon the benefits of attaching army surplus chicken feathers onto motor cars - a suggestion designed to evoke a humourous image, except that his preceding explication on the structural properties of feathers is done so well that it lends the idea a certain fanciful credence. The pages are filled with such moments. Professor Gordon delights in drawing parallels between the unlikeliest of phenomena - how an intelligent reflection on the properties of worms led him to the design of a better anchor bracket, or how his introduction to a circus proprietor's somewhat self-conscious invention ended up improving everything from military aircraft to household doors. Through the liberal use of such anecdotes, he leads us, gently but inexorably, to a fuller understanding of the interconnectedness of the physical world. While his book deals with abstract ideas, Professor Gordon comes across clearly as a practical man. Whereas others would deal only with joints and fastenings, he chooses to title one chapter "Joints, Fastenings and People". He does so with especial purpose because his hands-on and sometimes tragic experience has won him the understanding that most joints fail not from want of material strength, but from human negligence. Anyone who has ever taken responsibility for the work of others will sympathise with his observation that: "All of our efforts to persuade [the aircraft workers] that a badly made joint was morally equivalent to manslaughter foundered on a deeply-held folk tradition that it was silly to fuss about such things and that strength is a boring subject anyway." Professor Gordon always manages to marry each abstraction with a human element and this is what makes his narrative so engaging and so relevant. While extremely well written, this is not a book for dilettantes. Professor Gordon does not evade mathematics, although he keeps it to a minimum and always to the point. Where necessary, he does not spare the technical details, but he has both the mastery and the skill to make it go down easily and the reader always comes away from the experience feeling enriched. Those who are completely mathematically phobic can still follow the general thrust of his narrative while skipping the formulae. This is popularisation at its best and Professor Gordon's works should be required reading not only for aspiring engineers but for all university undergraduates.
Rating:
Summary: Scientific popularisation at its best.
Review: In the wonderful tradition of Sagan, Cousteau and Asimov, Professor Gordon shows us that science and technology need not be abstruse and tedious, but can be made both pleasant and fascinating. Structures, or Why Things Don't Fall Down stands perfectly well on its own, but the best benefits are to be derived when reading it in tandem with its sister publication, The New Science of Strong Materials. In both books, Professor Gordon strikes the difficult balance between the ease of exposition and the exactness of detail that characterises only the very best of scientific popularisations. He combines his technical presentation with a warm and self-deprecating wit that will have you feeling that you are not being lectured to, so much as enjoying an engaging explanation from a friend. For example, in a typical moment of whimsy, Professor Gordon speculates upon the benefits of attaching army surplus chicken feathers onto motor cars - a suggestion designed to evoke a humourous image, except that his preceding explication on the structural properties of feathers is done so well that it lends the idea a certain fanciful credence. The pages are filled with such moments. Professor Gordon delights in drawing parallels between the unlikeliest of phenomena - how an intelligent reflection on the properties of worms led him to the design of a better anchor bracket, or how his introduction to a circus proprietor's somewhat self-conscious invention ended up improving everything from military aircraft to household doors. Through the liberal use of such anecdotes, he leads us, gently but inexorably, to a fuller understanding of the interconnectedness of the physical world. While his book deals with abstract ideas, Professor Gordon comes across clearly as a practical man. Whereas others would deal only with joints and fastenings, he chooses to title one chapter "Joints, Fastenings and People". He does so with especial purpose because his hands-on and sometimes tragic experience has won him the understanding that most joints fail not from want of material strength, but from human negligence. Anyone who has ever taken responsibility for the work of others will sympathise with his observation that: "All of our efforts to persuade [the aircraft workers] that a badly made joint was morally equivalent to manslaughter foundered on a deeply-held folk tradition that it was silly to fuss about such things and that strength is a boring subject anyway." Professor Gordon always manages to marry each abstraction with a human element and this is what makes his narrative so engaging and so relevant. While extremely well written, this is not a book for dilettantes. Professor Gordon does not evade mathematics, although he keeps it to a minimum and always to the point. Where necessary, he does not spare the technical details, but he has both the mastery and the skill to make it go down easily and the reader always comes away from the experience feeling enriched. Those who are completely mathematically phobic can still follow the general thrust of his narrative while skipping the formulae. This is popularisation at its best and Professor Gordon's works should be required reading not only for aspiring engineers but for all university undergraduates.
Rating:
Summary: Good for the layman, but insufficient for engineers!
Review: Let me start by saying I did not voluntarily purchase this text. I had to read it cover to cover for my "Solid Mechanics and Design" course. This book is filled with many interesting aectdotes from the author's experiences. It is written in a casual way, which I like. Most textbooks I had overcomplicate everything! This book covers a broad range of topics without going into any of them too deeply. The problem is that I found it lacked the detail I needed to actually "use" it. There's no math. This makes it great for the layman, but what layman would be interested in reading about Civil Engineering? It provided decent base knowledge, but when it was test time, I found it completely useless. The author repeatedly suggests out-of the-box thinking, which is good, but doesn't really help. He'll talk about birds and say "aeronautical engineers take note." Thanks a lot. Buy this if you are passionate about science and engineering or are a middle school or high school student. Don't buy this if you're looking for help in college or your career.
Rating:
Summary: Good for the layman, but insufficient for engineers!
Review: Let me start by saying I did not voluntarily purchase this text. I had to read it cover to cover for my "Solid Mechanics and Design" course. This book is filled with many interesting aectdotes from the author's experiences. It is written in a casual way, which I like. Most textbooks I had overcomplicate everything! This book covers a broad range of topics without going into any of them too deeply. The problem is that I found it lacked the detail I needed to actually "use" it. There's no math. This makes it great for the layman, but what layman would be interested in reading about Civil Engineering? It provided decent base knowledge, but when it was test time, I found it completely useless. The author repeatedly suggests out-of the-box thinking, which is good, but doesn't really help. He'll talk about birds and say "aeronautical engineers take note." Thanks a lot. Buy this if you are passionate about science and engineering or are a middle school or high school student. Don't buy this if you're looking for help in college or your career.
Rating:
Summary: Good for the layman, but insufficient for engineers!
Review: Let me start by saying I did not voluntarily purchase this text. I had to read it cover to cover for my "Solid Mechanics and Design" course. This book is filled with many interesting aectdotes from the author's experiences. It is written in a casual way, which I like. Most textbooks I had overcomplicate everything! This book covers a broad range of topics without going into any of them too deeply. The problem is that I found it lacked the detail I needed to actually "use" it. There's no math. This makes it great for the layman, but what layman would be interested in reading about Civil Engineering? It provided decent base knowledge, but when it was test time, I found it completely useless. The author repeatedly suggests out-of the-box thinking, which is good, but doesn't really help. He'll talk about birds and say "aeronautical engineers take note." Thanks a lot. Buy this if you are passionate about science and engineering or are a middle school or high school student. Don't buy this if you're looking for help in college or your career.
Rating:
Summary: Outstanding! Basic engineering done with history and humor.
Review: My boss gave me this book when I arrived at my first job, and it changed the way I saw the world. It covers the basics of structural engineering from cathedrals to clothing, and does so with a blend of historical references and dry British humor that makes it delightful to read. Only basic math is used. The emphasis is on the basic principles (tension, compression, shear, etc.)and how they apply to real-world examples, ranging from bridge trusses to bias-cut fabrics and bat wings. I'd recommend this book for anyone who's curious about how things work. My sole complaint is that this edition is a bit bulky and might seem intimidating, but that's because the print is fairly large. I preferred the earlier British Penguin edition which was much more compact.
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