Promotional Information

"Building the World is a fine contribution and very useful. The projects are well chosen and presented in a lively and informative manner. The volumes are both provocative and thoughtful, providing us with a base for thinking about macro projects that can bring people and nations together." -- Dr. Hasan-Uddin Khan, Distinguished Professor of Architecture and Historic Preservation, Roger Williams University,^Lformer Head of Architectural Activities and Overseer of the Aga Khan Award for Architecture and the Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture at Harvard and MIT "What a wonderful book! Building the World is a tribute to the role of large-scale infrastructure in the evolution of the world's societies. There is solid scholarship in this book yet it could well make the best-seller list because of its scope and unification of these major projects. Building the World is a great book." -- Dr. David H. Marks, Morton and Claire Goulder Family Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Engineering Systems, Director, Laboratory for Energy and the Environment, MIT "Building the World brings together in two comprehensive volumes mankind's contributions over centuries. The documents will serve historians interested in architecture and civil engineering. Building the World leaves for future generations a document as impressive as the projects that have been reviewed." -- Dr. Fred Moavenzadeh, James Mason Crafts Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Engineering Systems,^LDirector,Technology and Development Program, MIT "A splendid work of scholarship, Building the World will surely do much to advance public understanding and appreciation of macroengineering and, in so doing will underscore humankind's capacity to accomplish what the majority in society often held to be unachievable." -- Dr. Jeffrey K. Stine, Chair Division of Medicine & Science National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution "What an immense contribution, quite extraordinary in the true meaning of the adjective! Fine, effortless prose throughout. The plaudits are shaking the windows. Building the World should be in every public library, as well as those of high schools and colleges, universities and many households." -- Josef Erhardy, Sculptor "The books are amazing and impressive. Now that you have built the world, your next challenge can be to show the physicists how to build the universe." -- Jay W. Forrester, Professor Emeritus, Sloan School of Management, MIT "A remarkable historical panorama on the major accomplishments of macro engineering." -- A. George Schillinger, Founding Editor of Technology in Society

Table of Contents

Volume 1 Solomon's Temple Founding of Cyrene Aqueducts of Rome Grand Canal of China Protective Dikes and Land Reclamation Founding of Baghad Charlemagne's Works London Bridge New River Taj Mahal Canal des Deux Mers Founding of St. Petersburg Washington, D.C. Erie Canal City of Singapore Suez Canal U.S. Trans-Continental Railroad Brooklyn Bridge Canadian Pacific Railraod Eiffel Tower Trans-Siberian Railroad Panama Canal U.S. Federal Highway System Volume 2 Colorado River and Hoover Dam Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) Manhattan Project and Atomic Energy Act Alaska Highway Snowy Mountains Hydro-Electric Power Project Mont Blanc Tunnel Brasilia NASA and the Apollo Program High Dam at Aswan Communications Satellite (COMSAT) U.S. National Trails System Shinkansen: National High-Speed Railways Trans-Alaska Pipeline Itaipu Hydro-Electric Power Project Abuja Channel Tunnel Sematech Central Artery Project ("Big Dig")

About the Author

Frank P. Davidson was the American co-founder (1957) of The Channel Tunnel Study Group and the initiator of teaching and research in macro-engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Davidson has a J.D. from Harvard Law School and has been appointed a Chevalier in the French Legion of Honor. Kathleen Lusk Brooke is the Founder and Managing Director of the Center for the Study of Success. She is the author of many works on policy and management, including the book Mobilizing the Organization: Bringing Strategy to Life.

Reviews

This source is an excellent summary of major engineering efforts to improve utilities, recreation, and other projects that affect people's lives on a daily basis. It outlines and documents the ideas and events surrounding the need for, use of, and processes involved in these projects. Descriptions of the 41 interdisciplinary projects encompass their scientific/technological aspects, from the water supply and wastewater systems of ancient Rome to the Big Dig highway project in Boston. Projects involve hydrology, transportation, railways, space exploration, and the founding of various cities worldwide. In this reviewer's experience, very few resources provide this type of information on major municipal structures. Not only is this work educational and informative, the selected references for each project include book and journal bibliographic sources, historical and current documents of authorization, and Internet, film, television, and musical resources….Highly recommended. Lower-level undergraduates through faculty/researchers.
*Choice*

Building the World is a two-volume, wide-ranging reference work dealing with macroengineering projects, that is, those engineering projects that were among the largest and most technically complex accomplished at various periods of history….the work focuses on 41 of humanity's major building projects….the entries are well-written and genuinely fun to read, especially for those not familiar with the history of civil engineering….Amost every entry has something to pique the general reader's interest.
*Industrial Archeology*

[W]hat is included is unique in the attention they draw to the vision, the details of construction, and the historical ramifications of these audacious, outrageous, and ultimately successful giant engineering feats.
*Historical Studies in the Physical and Biological Sciences*

Building the World has a unique approach to describing forty-one major projects undertaken by mankind throughout history….Building the World was meant to provide a greater understanding of the role that such structures have played not just in the transformation of the physical world, but in the growth and development of societies and cultures (xi). The editors have met this goal, and have done so for audiences ranging from high school students to professionals and from artists to diplomats. The encyclopedia reads easily and is suitable for public and academic libraries alike, including technical libraries.
*Reference & User Services Quarterly*

Building the World is a first purchase for colleges and universities with programs in engineering. Students in other fields, such as architecture, history, and technology, would find the information in the articles revealing, and general readers would find their interest piqued. Recommended for academic and large public libraries.
*Booklist/Reference Books Bulletin*

Building the World tells the stories behind 41 key projects, giving readers a look into the visionary individuals and often combative teams behind these projects, their historical contexts and surprising facts, and even the real estate contracts and other essential paperwork.
*Colloquy*

Davidson and Lusk Brooke draw on 35-plus years of experience in engineering and history, including periods as academics at both MIT and Harvard, in assembling the first encyclopedia to cover 41 of the world's most significant, large engineering projects, from early human civilization to modern times. Each chapter describes the project's historical background, cultural context, planning, building, and importance in history, and includes the text of the original authorizing documents, where available. The collection offers readers a greater understanding of how these structures have transformed the physical world and influenced the growth and development of societies and cultures. For students, scholars and professionals in national and regional history, engineering and technology, law, architecture, public art, and historic preservation; government leaders, diplomats, planners, and social scientists; and the general public.
*SciTech Book News*