Structures: Or Why Things Don't Fall Down [Paperback]

J. E. Gordon (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 21, 1981

For anyone who has ever wondered why suspension bridges don’t collapse under eight lanes of traffic, how dams hold back—or give way under—thousands of gallons of water, or what principles guide the design of a skyscraper, a nightgown, or a kangaroo, this book will ease your anxiety and answer your questions. 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, J. E. Gordon strips engineering of its technical mathematics and communicates the theory behind the structures of 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. For architects and engineers there are cogent explanations of the concepts of stress, shear, torsion, fracture, and compression, and chapters on safety design and the relationship of efficiency to aesthetics. If you are building a house, a sailboat, or a catapult, here is a handy tool for understanding the mechanics of joinery, floors, ceilings, hulls, masts—or flying buttresses. Without jargon or over-simplification, Structures surveys the nature of materials and gives sophisticated answers to the most naive questions, opening up the marvels of technology to anyone interested in the foundations of our everyday lives.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

James Edward Gordon was born in 1913. He took a degree in naval architecture at Glasgow University and worked in wood and steel shipyards, intending to design sailing ships. On the outbreak of the Second World War he moved to the Royal Aircraft Establishment at Farnborough, where he worked on wooden aircraft, plastics and unorthodox materials of all kinds. He designed the sailing rescue dinghies carried at one time by most bomber aircraft. He later became head of the plastic structures sections at Farnborough and developed a method of construction in reinforced plastics which is now used for a number of purpose in aircraft and rockets. For several frustrating years he worked in industry on the strength of glass and the growth of strong 'whisker' crystals. In 1962 he returned to government service as superintendent of an experimental branch at Waltham Abbey concerned with research and development of entirely new structural materials, most of which were based on 'whiskers'. He was Industrial Fellow Commoner at Churchill College, Cambridge, and became Professor of Materials Technology at the University of Reading, where he was later Professor Emeritus. He was awarded the British Silver Medal of the Royal Aeronautical Society for work on aircraft plastics and also the Griffith Medal of the Materials Science Club for contributions to material science. His book, Structures or Why Things Don't Fall Down, is also published in Penguin. Professor Gordon died in 1998. In its obituary The Times wrote of him that he was 'one of the founders of materials science' and that he wrote 'two books of outstanding literary quality ... at once entertaining and informative, providing absorbing interest for both expert and student'. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 424 pages
• Publisher: Da Capo Press (August 21, 1981)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0306801515
• ISBN-13: 978-0306801518
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,339,612 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding! Basic engineering done with history and humor., November 18, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Structures: Or Why Things Don't Fall Down (Paperback)

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.

25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent layman's overview or engineer's refresher, January 16, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Structures: Or Why Things Don't Fall Down (Paperback)

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."

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Clear, Concise, It makes the Complex easily Understood, July 11, 2001

By 

J. head (littlteton, nh USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Structures: Or Why Things Don't Fall Down (Paperback)

This book could even give Stress Analysis a good name. The author does an exceedingly good job of explaining the property or behavior of a material. He then proceeds to demonstrate the direct relationship between the properties and how the material is utilized and how it affects of the overall design of the structure. The book discusses why construction steel really is the preferred material for most large structures. Comparisons of soft metal chain vs. high tensile strength suspension bridges or bi-plane vs. monoplane design are discussed. I would recommend this for anybody that wants a well rounded basic understanding of why structures are the designed the way they are. The math is at a minimum, the concepts are very well explained and real world examples are used frequently to keep it interesting. The author's career has exposed him to a multitude of design failures and successes. He readily explains them along with his philosophy of design and accident prevention. This is another one of those books that can in a few chapters explain the major goals and problems in the modern field of design and materials science.