Once upon a time, seven wonders of the world stood tall and brilliant and, it must have seemed, would stand forever, impervious to time and gravity. Now only one remains--the pyramid at Khufu, in the Egyptian desert near Cairo. All of the others have fallen down. Modern technologies, computerized designs, and new materials have minimized structural failures nearly to the vanishing point. Even so, we can learn from ancient as well as recent history. Why Buildings Fall Down chronicles the how and why of the most important and interesting structural failures in history and especially in the twentieth century. Not even all of the pyramids are still with us. The Pyramid of Meidum has shed 2,500,000 tons of limestone and continues to disintegrate. Beginning there our authors, both world-renowned structural engineers, take us on a guided tour of enlightening structural failures--buildings of all kinds, from ancient domes like Istanbul's Hagia Sophia to the state of the art Hartford Civic Arena, from the man-caused destruction of the Parthenon to the earthquake damage of 1989 in Armenia and San Francisco, the Connecticut Thruway bridge collapse at Mianus, and one of the most fatal structural disasters in American history: the fall of the Hyatt Regency ballroom walkways in Kansas City. Buildings have fallen throughout history whether made of wood, steel, reinforced concrete, or stone. But these failures do respect the laws of physics. All are the result of static load or dynamic forces, earthquakes, temperature changes, uneven settlements of the soil, or other unforeseen forces. A few are even due to natural phenomena that engineers and scientists are still unable to explain or predict. The stories that make up Why Buildings Fall Down are, finally, 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 in the places where we live and work and have our lives.

Why Buildings Fall Down: How Structures Fail

Arts & Photography

Levy, Matthys

Salvadori, Mario

Architecture

W.W. Norton & Co., Inc.

A history of earthquakes and other seismic phenomena chronicles the planet's tectonic origins through the most recent developments in seismic technology and includes discussions on the worst natural disasters of all time.

Why the Earth Quakes: The Story of Earthquakes and Volcanoes

Science & Math

Earth Sciences

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

W.W.Norton&Company

“At last an inviting book on earthquakes, written by scientists whose easily understandable prose takes us on a tour not only of seismology but also of modern building technologies, volcanoes, and that California constant, the magnificent rubbing and pushing of tectonic plates beneath us.” ―San Francisco Chronicle Book Review In this "excellent survey of earthquakes and their effects―their mystery, terror, and science" (Christopher Arnold, president, Building Systems Development), two of the world's premier structural engineers take readers on a fascinating trip from the Earth's beginnings to recent developments in seismic technology. 100+ illustrations.

Glossy paperback, 1997 116p 9.00x6.00x0.38 THE SECRETS OF THE EARTH; IF YOU HAD BEEN THERE; WHEN THE OCEAN ROLLS; EARTHQUAKE MESSAGES; HOW STRONG WAS IT? AND MOOR.

Earthquake games: Earthquakes and volcanoes explained by 32 games and experiments

Children's Books

Activities, Crafts & Games

scholastic

FOR USE IN SCHOOLS AND LIBRARIES ONLY. Explains how cities obtain water, gas, and electricity and how these infrastructure systems developed along with the cities themselves. Provides experiments, games, and construction diagrams for interactive learning.

Engineering The City (Turtleback School & Library Binding Edition)

Richard Panchyk

Arts, Music & Photography

Turtleback Books

Using everyday materials, such as a rolling pin and a cereal box, young readers can delve into the science of studying earthquakes while learning about when and where they strike through a series of simple-to-follow games.

Earthquake Games: Earthquakes and Volcanoes Explained by 32 Games and Experiments

Literature & Fiction

Margaret K. McElderry

Building Eden is Matthys Levy's first novel, a thriller with subject matter he is intimately familiar with. A gifted architect, Philip Corta, has the opportunity of a lifetime, the design of a major office/residential complex on New York’s West Side, The Eden Center. The project endures many major setbacks resulting from the arrogance and shallow-minded behavior of the developer, corruption in City Hall, sabotage and murder by organized criminals, and recurring uncertainties about financing. Despite these and other setbacks, the project advances on schedule through 2001 until the events of 9/11 lead to personal tragedy and a change of direction that affects the project and all of the members of the design/construction team.

Building Eden: A Novel

Literary

Upper Access, Inc.

How does a city obtain water, gas, and electricity? Where do these services come from? How are they transported? The answer is infrastructure, or the inner, and sometimes invisible, workings of the city. Roads, railroads, bridges, telephone wires, and power lines are visible elements of the infrastructure; sewers, plumbing pipes, wires, tunnels, cables, and sometimes rails are usually buried underground or hidden behind walls. Engineering the City tells the fascinating story of infrastructure as it developed through history along with the growth of cities. Experiments, games, and construction diagrams show how these structures are built, how they work, and how they affect the environment of the city and the land outside it.

Engineering the City: How Infrastructure Works, Projects and Principles for Beginners

Panchyk, Richard

Chicago Review Press

Earthquakes, volcanoes, and tsunamis don’t happen every day, so how can budding scientists study how they work? Through experiments, models, and demonstrations. This in-depth resource will teach readers how to build a seismograph to record a simulated earthquake, compare pressure waves and shear waves—the two types of ground shocks—using a Slinky, and replicate a tsunami’s destructive effect on a “coastline” built in a bathtub. Authors Matthys Levy and Mario Salvadori even discuss issues of modern architecture and civil engineering: how science can be used to protect buildings and property in earthquake-prone areas. Earthquakes, Volcanoes, and Tsunamis answers a wide array of questions about these phenomena. Can animals “predict” earthquakes? How have various cultures explained the movement of the earth throughout history? What is the Richter scale, and what does it tell us about the strength of a quake? And most important, readers will learn how to earthquake-proof their homes, and how to protect themselves should they experience a tremor.

Earthquakes, Volcanoes, and Tsunamis: Projects and Principles for Beginning Geologists

Science, Nature & How It Works

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Levy, Matthys. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Levy, Matthys

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Levy, Matthys. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Why Buildings Fall Down: How Structures Fail

Why the Earth Quakes: The Story of Earthquakes and Volcanoes

Why Buildings Fall Down: How Structures Fail

Why the Earth Quakes: The Story of Earthquakes and Volcanoes

Earthquake games: Earthquakes and volcanoes explained by 32 games and experiments

Engineering The City (Turtleback School & Library Binding Edition)

Earthquake Games: Earthquakes and Volcanoes Explained by 32 Games and Experiments

Building Eden: A Novel

Engineering the City: How Infrastructure Works, Projects and Principles for Beginners

Earthquakes, Volcanoes, and Tsunamis: Projects and Principles for Beginning Geologists