"A structural engineer examines the seven most basic building blocks of engineering that have shaped the modern world"-- "Some of humanity's mightiest engineering achievements are small in scale--and, without them, the complex machinery on which our modern world runs would not exist. In Nuts and Bolts, structural engineer Roma Agrawal examines seven of these extraordinary elements: the nail, the wheel, the spring, the magnet, the lens, the string,...

Ohne die antike Pumpe keine Herz-Lungen-Maschine, ohne Rad kein Helikopter. Seit Jahrtausenden macht der Mensch Erfindungen und entwickelt sie weiter. Roma Agrawal beleuchtet die 7 Dinge, die die Basis unserer Welt ausmachen: Nagel, Faden, Rad, Linse, Magnet, Feder und Pumpe. Jedes Objekt eröffnet einen tiefen Einblick in die Historie menschlicher Innovationskraft. Gleichzeitig erzählt Roma Agrawal ihre eigene Familiengeschichte zwischen Indien...

Looks at the history of structural engineering, discusses the science behind the field, describes how engineers keep modern buildings from falling down and how a bridge can span distances, and compares modern solutions with those from ancient cultures. --Publisher