Paying tribute to the feats, and flops, of construction engineers, the editors of YES Magazine skim-profile more than 20 modern, large scale projects and disasters. The former includes the Panama Canal, Eiffel Tower, and the space shuttle’s utility “Canadarm”; for the latter, from the likes of “Galloping Gertie,” the ill-fated Tacoma Narrows Bridge, to Bhopal and Chernobyl, readers get glimpses of both construction details, and of each tragedy’s proximate causes. Some entries, such as the Leaning Tower of Pisa and the World Trade Center, are classed as Feats and Failures, and the tour closes with an introduction to Captain Edward Murphy, whose renowned Law is applicable far beyond the world of engineering. Thickly illustrated with bright color photos and lucid diagrams, this will be popular with casual browsers and all fans of large-scale human endeavor. (index) (Nonfiction. 8-10)
