Structures: Or Why Things Don't Fall Down

Structures: Or Why Things Don't Fall Down is an informal explanation of the basic forces that hold together the ordinary and essential things of this world from buildings and bodies to flying aircraft and eggshells. In a style that combines wit, a masterful command of his subject, and an encyclopedic range of reference, I. E. Gordon strips engineering of its technical mathematics and communicates the theory behind a wide variety of materials.

Chapters on "How to Design a Worm" and "The Advantage of Being a Beam" offer humorous insights into human and natural creation. Architects and engineers will appreciate the clear and cogent explanations of the concepts of stress, shear, torsion fracture, and compression. If you're building a house, a sailboat, or a catapult, here is a handy fool for understanding the mechanics of joinery, floors, ceilings, hulls, masts or flying buttresses. Without jargon or oversimplification, Structures gives sophisticated answers to the most naive questions, opening up the marvels of technology to anyone interested in the foundations of our everyday lives.