Why Buildings Stand Up: The Strength of Architecture

A solid book that’s an introduction to engineering. It explains – in the clearest, simplest way – how buildings stay upright. It talks about loads, materials, and different ways of organizing those in a never-ending war with gravity.

Along the way, the book looks at some historic structures and why they were built the way they were – the pyramids, the Eiffel Tower, the Hagia Sophia, etc.

There are lots of illustrations of various buildings, and blueprints showing load forces and reinforcing explanations of why things work the way they do.