Free PDF Concrete Planet: The Strange and Fascinating Story of the World's Most Common Man-Made Material
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Concrete Planet: The Strange and Fascinating Story of the World's Most Common Man-Made Material
Free PDF Concrete Planet: The Strange and Fascinating Story of the World's Most Common Man-Made Material
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Review
"The history of concrete construction is an unlikely subject for a popular book, but Robert Courland’s Concrete Planet engages the reader like a who done it novel. Courland easily and seamlessly covers the science, technology, craft, and architectural expression in the invention and use of concrete with precision and lively prose, describing both the best and the worst examples of its use over the ages and in the present. He successfully manages to bring more than two thousand years of human history alive using concrete as the thread, while delving deep enough to reveal the intimate details of the business and family lives of its famous, and sometimes infamous, inventors, designers, and builders across the Western world."Randolph Langenbach, former senior analyst in response and recovery at FEMA, author of Don’t Tear It Down!"A delightful excursion through time and across continents!"Dr. Robert Nason, author and former USGS seismologist "Concrete Planet is an unimaginably poetic and nuanced look at the most common substance on earth, a lumpen and lifeless mass that has been molded into a thing of sculpted beauty, turned our horizontal society into a vertical one, and will serve as our visual legacy long after we are gone. This is a fascinating work by a great historian. I could not put it down." James Dalessandro, author of 1906: A Novel
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About the Author
Robert Courland is the author of The Old North Waterfront, which won a special-achievement award from the California Heritage Council, and, with Walt Crowley, The Fairmont Hotel: The First Century of a San Francisco Landmark. He has also written magazine articles, television commercials, and screenplays.
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Product details
Hardcover: 396 pages
Publisher: Prometheus Books; First Edition edition (November 22, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1616144815
ISBN-13: 978-1616144814
Product Dimensions:
6.2 x 1.1 x 9.3 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review:
4.5 out of 5 stars
39 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank:
#312,138 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
I'm neither a civil engineer nor a construction man, but I've always liked the looks and durability of concrete items. This book is simply wonderful.The author does an excellent job of describing technical aspects of concrete's manufacture and use for the non-technician and reveals some absorbing facts. By and large this is a history of mankind's use of concrete and cement illustrated with mini-biographies of the major players ranging from hypothetical neolithic shamans through Herod, Frank Lloyd Wright, and LeCorbusier. Along the way are stories of a number of fascinating characters you have probably never heard of. It is also a summary of the technical changes in concrete over that time.Also, there are surprises. The author makes a good case that concrete is less fireproof, earthquake resistant, and long-lasting than we might imagine. Although such Roman constructions as the Pantheon have lasted without much repair for almost two millenia, most of the modern reinforced concrete constructions will be lucky to last a hundred years. The author gives a very persuasive explanation for this state of affairs.If I have any criticisms at all, they are two-fold. First, the amount of space devoted to certain personalities does not seem that correlated to their importance. As mentioned by another reviewer, the Frank Lloyd Wright section is pretty long. Second, while the author disclaims any technical expertise, he is downright polemic regarding the ways in which the concrete industry has gone wrong, and sometimes right. I think the jury is still out on some of these issues, and there are reasonable disagreements among the experts.Nevertheless, if you have any interest in concrete as a material for anything from birdbaths to skyscrapers, you should find this book a smooth and fascinating read.
Concrete Planet (2011) by Robert Courland is a decent effort at a book that looks at the history of concrete. This is clearly going to be a heavy, non-abstract book. The lessons of the book will also be reinforced. At some stage toward the end cracks may also appear.The books chapters on the discovery of concrete and it's use and development as far as the middle of C18 are really good. The way that concrete is likely to have been discovered and then was used in Ancient Rome is fascinating. The chapter on the development of Portland cement is also highly entertaining.The book's quality drops when it reaches the 20th Century. Far too much time is spent looking at Frank Lloyd Wright and not nearly enough at what concrete was being used for in the 20th century. The weird study of the construction of the Sydney Harbour Opera House is silly too. Reinforced concrete's role in the construction of skyscrapers, highways, dams, bridges and other C20 icons is really important. Falling Water isn't nearly as worthy of mention.The book finally looks at how modern reinforced concrete structures have a fairly short lifespan of about 50 years. This is worth thinking about and the book covers this well.Materials are a really neglected part of technology at least in general non-fiction. This is a worthy but flawed book that looks at a really important transforming technology. It's worth reading if you're into these things and much of the book is excellent. It's a pity the whole book doesn't attain the same standard.
The history of concrete? I know, the subject sounds about as exciting as reading an old telephone book. However there are some amazing stories within this book. For one, I did not know Thomas Edison, the electrical inventor, had anything to do with improving cement. Nor did I know that one of Frank Lloyd Wright's most beautiful houses was designed and drafted within a day. Also if you have ever been to the Guggenheim Museum in New York City and wondered about the story behind that unusual structure, that story is in this book as well. A great book. Well worth the time to read.
We are "surrounded" by Concrete, yet I knew nothing about its history. I live in North Eastern Ohio and often hike on the Ohio & Erie Canal towpath trails. I always assumed that the surviving ruins of locks and spillways built here in the 1830's were "repaired" using concrete. Thanks to this book, I now know that these were actually designed for and "made" with poured structural concrete in the 1830's....a real engineering marvel! I originally bought this as a Kindle edition, but liked it enough to buy the book for my father for Christmas.
I've been in the concrete business for over 40 years and a 3rd generation concrete finisher, form builder, and contractor. This is the best book on the history of concrete I have ever read, and I've read plenty. It should be required reading for every architect and engineering student. Great read, written in way everyone, both academic and layman can understand.
Good overview of cement history. Provoked numerous questions which is good. Is the 2000 year old Pantheon concrete cracking? Yes, no, why not. Does poz // fly ash react with liberated lime to improve long term concrete quality? How far along the technical road is truly modern, high tech concrete in achieving long term stability, non-cracking material? Nice history review via a specific technical timeline of cement development.
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Concrete Planet: The Strange and Fascinating Story of the World's Most Common Man-Made Material PDF
Concrete Planet: The Strange and Fascinating Story of the World's Most Common Man-Made Material PDF
