Structures: Or Why Things Don't Fall Down Kindle Edition

This is an excellent book, lots of down to earth explanations. Delivery from vendor was fast.

Structures: Or why things don’t fall down A very interesting book, covering a wide field of topics, from the ground up you might say.Basic concepts of forces are addressed. Compression, tension, shear and torsion forces, and their occurrence in everything from bridges, ancient coliseums, trees, boats and human biology. This, the author does very well; constantly interweaving the effects of various types of strains and stresses and fractures as they occur in wood construction and metal beams, as well as human skeletons and arteries.Reasons for, and types of failure are described for wood, concrete, boat sails, steel, femurs and aortas. Advantageous shapes of design for handling wind and accepting impacts are given, and reasons for spoke wheels. Critical and safe limits of fatigue and fracture are described…historical cases are offered, describing why early aero planes crashed and bridges fell down, and why boats capsize.Cautions are pointed out. Over design of repair: The repair must work in harmony with the repaired material, and not be so unyielding that it works against it. So many invisible forces of tension and compression are at play, and violation of acceptable limits must be watched for when they manifest in fractures.Different approaches to bridge trusses are explained, not so much mathematically, but in concepts of load bearing and the transference of force throughout the truss. By way of example, Bowstring bridges seem quite clever in design, where the internal force of the arch pulls the roadway below it taught so that the whole thing is held in equilibrium like a bow and arrow on a giant scale.The all important “thrust line” is a constant theme from chapter to chapter. Now I know why those old cathedrals have so many spires and spooky statues way up there, and it’s not for warding off evil spirits, it’s because they’re heavy.There are photographs, all clumped together in the middle of the book. Black and white, kind of blurry, but still a helpful aid. Very nice drawings, not blurry, and graphs are abundant in all chapters to help visualize the topics being discussed.These and many more topics and application fill this book, none of it came across as boring or dry.Beyond the final chapter, a few concepts are given a light mathematical treatment. Moments in I-beams, deflections in cantilevers and so forth.The pages are made of sturdy heavy paper, the printing is nice size and clear for those who require reading glasses, with ample space around the print for making marginal notes.

This text was clearly generated using OCR from an older book.The italicized test at the start of each chapter is oddly formatted and some OCR errors crept in.For example in the "spherical pressure vessels" section at loc 1664 it says that the "thickness of the wall or shell is l [ell]" but the formula used is "s = rp / 2t" and there is no l in that formula. The l [ell] should clearly be a t [tee].Less important but more maddening is at location 1810 where when speaking of hawks, we find that "[these] exacting and maddening birds lpse condition very easily." A simply OCR substitution of p for o like this would have been caught by a simply spell check.This book should have been proofread after scanning and before typesetting.As to the content of the book it does a good job of covering the behavior of real-world things you may be familiar with. But while sometimes it does a great job of explaining what is happening it doesn't do as good a job explaining why at times. The formulas for some forces as just thrown out as obvious, and indeed they would be derivable easily if you have the right background. But they deserve two more sentences of explanation in many cases.And some things are simply hand waived at and ignored. For example when discussing the billowing of bat wings we are told "It is clear there can be in practice be little or no aerodynamic loss as a consequence of this change of shape". Well, I don't know why that is so clear and I won't know by reading this book.I enjoyed it, it's an amusing book to help those who say "I don't need math in the real world" see how much math actually helps you in the real world. But in many cases it isn't going to do more than whet your appetite for explanations of why.

If you are curious about things around you this book is for you. It's a classic from a highly respected author in the engineering field. However, the beauty of Gordon's presentation of the mechanics behind structures is that the book draws on examples in biology (bones, muscles, and plants), airframes, and sailing vessels as well as buildings and other physical infrastructure. Despite being a naturally curious individual, there were a lot of "Ohhhhhhh...." moments for me. For example, linking the cut of women's dresses with sails. How trees grow in such a way as to put their trunks under compression and tension at the same time. And why the steel skeletons of skyscapers use "H" shaped beams. At the same time, math is kept to a minimum. Made me want to change my career toward engineering!

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.

The recipient is in 3rd year engineering and thoroughly enjoying this book in that it brings old and new back to the basic math and even makes it as simple as possible for the layman .. He tells me a great choice and a most interesting read

The book I wanted to have one. It helped me to jump to the next level for which I was struggling for years. Now I am able to write something of my interest and put a meaning in that.

Good book. Recommend.

Este libro es una locura, cotilleando sobre el autor descubrí que fue un profesor de materiales y su comportamiento en la universidad mucho tiempo. Yo he tenido profesores de materiales en mi paso por la universidad y… este libro te va a contar todo lo que te gustaría que te hubieran contado. No me entiendas mal, no acabarás sabiendo calcular estructuras, ni de lejos. No habla de matemáticas, ni de ecuaciones, a duras penas hay 5 ecuaciones en todo el libro. Lo que si hallarás es, que es una estructura, como funcionan desde una perspectiva basada en la experiencia y en sentido común. Empezarás estudiando problemas que los primeros científicos de materiales se fueron encontrando, aprenderás de Newton, Hooke, Young y entenderás por que hicieron lo que hicieron, como si te lo contara un colega en un bar tomando un café. Nivel de inglés recomendado… pues entorno a un B2, si tienes un C1 mejor. Verás muchas expresiones escritas francamente interesantes, ya analizando simplemente la gramática y no el contenido en sí. En definitiva, creo que voy a comprar 5 ejemplares más y los guardaré para ir regalando a gente a la que aprecia y le guste la ingeniería como a mi 🤷🏼‍♂️.

In terms of Amazon's shipping and quality: the norm. Fast and came in pristine condition. Ordered the paperback copy.The book itself is a great read for someone interested in learning the history behind structural engineering, and how these concepts relate to the function of the human body as well as animals. For example looking at the shape and placement of bird wings and bones within the wing and the function and material properties of the skin and feather and what they contribute to a bird's ability to fly but also be protected from harm.A recommended reading for someone interested in engineering, physics, and history. It does deal with theory, but in a VERY practical way with the aid of diagrams and algebraic formulas. I used this as a learning tool to get a better practical feel for structural/ statics concepts (as an engineering student not focused in Civil or Mechanical engineering by academic discipline). Was a very insightful book.