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Gently used with light wear on the cover and corners. May have some writing or highlighting. Dust jacket or extras might be missing. May be ex-library copy. Ships direct from Amazon! Gently used with light wear on the cover and corners. May have some writing or highlighting. Dust jacket or extras might be missing. May be ex-library copy. Ships direct from Amazon! See less
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Why Buildings Fall Down: How Structures Fail Updated and expanded Edition

4.7 out of 5 stars 248 ratings

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The authors examine buildings of all kinds, from ancient domes like Istanbul's Hagia Sophia to the state-of-the-art Hartford Civic Arena. Their subjects range from the man-caused destruction of the Parthenon to the earthquake damage of 1989 in Armenia and San Francisco.

The stories that make up Why Buildings Fall Down are in the end very human ones, tales of the interaction of people and nature, of architects, engineers, builders, materials, and natural forces all coming together in sometimes dramatic (and always instructive) ways. B/W line drawings
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Editorial Reviews

Review

The reader is sure to find the disaster that suits his or her taste. -- New York Times Book Review

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ W. W. Norton & Company; Updated and expanded edition (February 17, 2002)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 346 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 039331152X
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0393311525
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.31 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.1 x 1 x 9.3 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.7 out of 5 stars 248 ratings

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4.7 out of 5 stars
248 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find the book informative, with engineering concepts explained in a way that everyone can understand. Moreover, the illustrations are well-received, and one customer notes the frequent use of line drawings. Additionally, they appreciate the book's readability and humor, with one review highlighting its incisive wit. The text quality receives positive feedback, with one customer noting the helpful glossary.

AI-generated from the text of customer reviews

16 customers mention "Information quality"16 positive0 negative

Customers find the book informative, with engineering concepts explained in a way that everyone can understand, and one customer notes it is full of interesting real-world lessons.

"Meticulously and simply written, beautifully illustrated. Fascinating cases from antiquity to the present...." Read more

"...The authors teach by example, exploring fallen apartment buildings, stadiums, bridges and other structure, and using each to illustrate an..." Read more

"This is a really good intro level (I.e. no math required) discussion of how structural failures can occur...." Read more

"...It gave a lot of insight to structure of buildings, things to remember and consider." Read more

13 customers mention "Readability"13 positive0 negative

Customers find the book interesting and fun to read.

"Great book" Read more

"This is one of the best books I've read on the engineering behind structural failures...." Read more

"I am not an architect or engineer, but I found this book really fascinating...." Read more

"Interesting book, clever premise. Easy to read a chapter or two as each chapter stands on its own...." Read more

5 customers mention "Illustrations"5 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the illustrations in the book, with one noting the frequent use of line drawings.

"Meticulously and simply written, beautifully illustrated. Fascinating cases from antiquity to the present...." Read more

"...The illustrations are also an invaluable aid to understanding the problems in each structure..." Read more

"...Line drawings are frequent and presented in situ with text...." Read more

"...The illustrations were great, but there should have been more, and some color photos would have been nice...." Read more

3 customers mention "Humor"3 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the book's humor, with one mentioning its incisive wit and another noting its ironic title.

"...philosophy with simplicity, and structural events with a sharp, incisive wit. Line drawings are frequent and presented in situ with text...." Read more

"such an ironic title" Read more

"...Humorous and informative" Read more

3 customers mention "Text quality"3 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the text quality of the book, with one noting it is clearly written and another mentioning that the glossary serves as a helpful resource.

"...The glossary was a very helpful resource for understanding basic things like, what "load" is, and how it effects structures...." Read more

"...Line drawings are frequent and presented in situ with text...." Read more

"very interesting and clearly written" Read more

Top reviews from the United States

  • Reviewed in the United States on May 6, 2010
    Meticulously and simply written, beautifully illustrated. Fascinating cases from antiquity to the present. You get a real feel for the field of large structures, their conception, design, building, maintenance, and the associated personalities.

    I would encourage the authors to do a similar book on the World Trade Center collapses, including WTC7. Since they are associated with a company that was involved in WTC litigation, they might be in a good position to do such a review book.

    And they might evaluate some of the associated factors, such as extreme high temperatures in the wreckage, possible iron microspheres in the dust, .....

    I found this book in the bibligraphy of a report entitled "What Did and Did not Cause Collapse of WTC Twin Towers in New York" by Zdenek P. Bazant. Bazant is a very heavy academic hitter in the field of structure analysis and behavior. His article is very technical, laying out the establishment collapse scenario, which has been contradicted by the people that want a new investigation, e.g. [...], [...].

    The US Government National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) study did not pursue the actual collapse, it just studied fire, and possible structural distortion up to the moment of collapse. Bazant follows the collapse but not in a lay intelligible manner.

    Maybe the authors could do better.
    4 people found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United States on November 3, 2024
    Great book
  • Reviewed in the United States on November 15, 2024
    Great case studies of why buildings collapse
  • Reviewed in the United States on September 12, 2009
    This is one of the best books I've read on the engineering behind structural failures. The authors teach by example, exploring fallen apartment buildings, stadiums, bridges and other structure, and using each to illustrate an important engineering principle. The illustrations are also an invaluable aid to understanding the problems in each structure (particularly for readers who, like me, may find it difficult to follow verbiage on the orientation of strutts, the direction of braces, etc.).

    I only had two gripes: a glossary provided the only introduction to many basic concepts; and political/historical/personal context would have made for a livelier account. The glossary was a very helpful resource for understanding basic things like, what "load" is, and how it effects structures. It might have been better to also work those descriptions into the text as the concepts arose - this would have made it easier for me to assimilate them. Also, I enjoyed it when the authors gave context for many of the engineering decisions made - for instance, that a stadium rooftop was designed, in part, because flaws in the city sewer system prevented the efficient disposition of significant rainfall. However, more of this kind of context - particularly historical and personal facts that had bearing on design decisions - would have made each example into a better story, and improved the reading experience for me.

    Overall, a highly recommended book.
    12 people found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United States on August 4, 2021
    This is a really good intro level (I.e. no math required) discussion of how structural failures can occur. It includes review material on the basics of how structures work.
    One person found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United States on March 13, 2024
    This book arrived in perfect condition.
  • Reviewed in the United States on January 30, 2024
    Muy bien empacado, buena amplitud de las paginas, ideal para estudiar.
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United States on March 27, 2020
    This was a required book for a Construction degree. It gave a lot of insight to structure of buildings, things to remember and consider.

Top reviews from other countries

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  • Brendon Ray
    5.0 out of 5 stars Good Read
    Reviewed in Canada on March 18, 2019
    Bought this for a school book review. It was an enjoyable read with diagrams and clear explanation of different case studies outlining each failure. Would recommend for anyone interested in structures.
  • Mario
    4.0 out of 5 stars Interesante para aprender sin ecuaciones
    Reviewed in Spain on October 7, 2016
    Si te gustó "estructuras o porque las cosas no se caen" este libro también te parecerá entretenido. Reconozco que me gustó más el primero, pero el nivel de detalle de este es bastante superior y te permite aprender muchos conceptos a partir de sucesos reales.

    Además, incluye bocetos y esquemas para hacerlo más ameno. El inglés no es complicado, así que lo recomiendo.
    Report
  • Christian T.
    5.0 out of 5 stars Interesting for technical and entertaining for nontechnical.
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 24, 2021
    Describes various structural failures from antiquity to present day and their causes.
    Each chapter treats of a different type/cause of failure and is is well cross referenced and indexed so you can browse and skip around to find what interests you.
    Of particular interest to me as an engineer were tables like steel Strength vs Temperature in the chapter entitled Terror From The Skies.
    The diagrams, drawings, and charts are clear and easy to understand.
    This is a serious albeit entertaining work.
  • Brett bee
    5.0 out of 5 stars every Engineer, aspiring, student or professional must read this book
    Reviewed in Australia on January 9, 2023
    every Engineer, aspiring, student or professional must read this book

    I have read it front to back 5 times - it is an amazing resource
  • Kodiak
    3.0 out of 5 stars deception
    Reviewed in France on March 19, 2013
    I was expecting more. I picked up a translation in a library and wanted to read the full text. This is not the best book on the subject.