Book Review: Engineering An Illustrated History from Ancient Craft to Modern Technology

The holidays are upon us, which means making small talk with your second cousin's husband at the family get together. After you exhaust the topic of weather, the conversation takes a natural turn to "What do you do?"

Now you can show as well as tell them about engineering with "Engineering: An Illustrated History from Ancient Craft to Modern Technology," a large, coffee-table-worthy book by Tom Jackson that explores 100 engineering achievements that changed history.

The 144-page book is chock-full of more than 300 great illustrations and just enough explanation to whet a casual reader's appetite for more information. It begins with stone technology 3.3 million years ago and advances to solar power, chronicling great engineering feats along the way. Some of the stories of innovation, like the Great Wall of China and World Wide Web, are well known. Others are more obscure. For instance, did you know:

• In 1698, Thomas Savery built "The Miner’s Friend," also known as "An Engine to Raise Water by Fire"? It was a water pump that used steam power and was incredibly inefficient, but noted for being the first functioning steam engine.
• In 1783, Joseph-Michael and Jacques-Ètienne Montgolfier built the first flying machine capable of carrying human passengers? It was a 30-ft. wide hot air balloon, powered by an open fire and made of paper.
• It took 12 hours to make 1.5 tons of wrought iron before Henry Bessemer designed a new system for making steel? Bessemer’s converter could produce 15 tons of steel, which was also much stronger, in just 20 minutes.
• The first communication satellite, Echo 1, was a metallic balloon launched into the upper atmosphere by NASA in 1960?

Each story relates what the publisher, Shelter Harbor Press, calls a "ponderable," a weighty problem that became an invention and changed our homes, cities, farms and lives. This book is the seventh in the Ponderables Series, which the publisher says has sold more than 350,000 copies worldwide.

"Engineering: An Illustrated History from Ancient Craft to Modern Technology" examines everything from from the crudely knapped hand axes of Homo Habilis to the amazing ways modern engineering has improved the quality of daily life and expanded the scope of our civilization. Beyond the 100 "ponderables" is a section of "imponderables" that address future engineering projects and challenges, such as the Hyperloop, a space elevator and advanced robotics. It also includes a section called Engineering 101 that explains the basics of engines, structural engineering and materials, as well as a section of mini profiles of 23 engineering greats from ancient times to the modern day.

"Engineering: An Illustrated History from Ancient Craft to Modern Technology" retails for $24.95. It would make a great gift for any engineer, and the perfect companion for those times when you need to explain what design engineers do.

Learn more here.