Skyscrapers: Uncovering Technology (Uncovering series) - Hardcover

Oxlade, Chris

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1554071364 ISBN 13: 9781554071364

Publisher: Firefly Books, 2006

Synopsis

Who designs skyscrapers? How are they built? Why don't they fall down?

From the Tower of Babel to the Great Pyramids to New York's Freedom Tower (to be completed in 2010), skyscrapers in one form or another have captured humankind's imagination. This book covers the world's most important skyscrapers, beginning with the earliest attempts to build to the sky, through the major design periods, and right up to post-September 11.

The acetate overlays feature:

• The Chrysler Building: cutaway view of the crown
• The New York Skyline: 1876 and today
• The Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank: cutaway view of its structure
• The Petronas Tower, Kuala Lumpur: in 1996, the world's tallest building.

The Uncovering series: Exposing science and technology in stunning color and detail.

Jam-packed with exacting full-color illustrations, these titles focus on topics of particular interest to young readers. Informative text and descriptive captions and sidebars complement dozens of annotated drawings. Each book contains four acetate overlays, used in some cases to show changes over time, in others to show a cutaway interior.

About this title

About the Author

Chris Oxlade is the best-selling author of more than 150 non-fiction books, most of them explaining complex scientific ideas and modern technology to young readers in readable text.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Introduction

Standing high above the streets, often disappearing into the clouds, skyscrapers are one of humankind's greatest achievements. These towering buildings are proof of our skill at architecture and engineering and hold thousands of tons of floors, machinery and people hundreds of feet up in the sky. Resistant to hurricane-force winds and the most violent earthquakes, they are testimony to our - understanding of science and technology.

Like self-contained towns, skyscrapers create a huge amount of valuable living and working space in busy cities around the world. Many of the tallest skyscrapers, however, are mostly for show and are symbols of commercial success. Fierce competition for the title of "world's tallest" has gone on for much of the history of the skyscraper.

Beginning in the 1880s in Chicago, skyscrapers were first made possible with the development of the steel frame and the invention of the elevator. Since then skyscrapers have been created with many different architectural styles, from medieval-style spires and Art Deco sculpture to vast walls of glass. The United States was once considered the "home" of the skyscraper, but they now scatter the skylines of many of the world's cities. Taller and taller skyscrapers are being built in cities across Asia, the Middle East and Europe. Despite the tragic events of September 11, architects and engineers still strive to build bigger, better and more interesting buildings that reflect recent trends in architecture. Today's skyscrapers are 10 times taller than the first skyscrapers. The ambitions of countries, cities and businesses, and the egos of entrepreneurs, will undoubtedly push them even higher during the course of the 21st century.

About this edition

• Publisher: Firefly Books
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 1554071364
• ISBN 13: 9781554071364
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 52