Description: Humans do one thing better than other species: we build things. For millennia, people have altered the landscape to create awe-inspiring architectural and engineering wonders that rival the most impressive structures created by nature. Cities built temples to worship their gods; kings sponsored structures to glorify their reigns; nations constructed sophisticated systems of canals and roadways to expand their economic influence; architects designed novel buildings to house an ever-growing population.

In only one book can you find them all. The Encyclopedia of Architectural and Engineering Feats presents over 200 achievements in architecture and structural engineering in all the inhabited continents from prehistory to the present. A structure is included because of the importance of its technological advance, its refinement of existing systems, or its social and economic significance. The A-to-Z entries include:
-- Appian Way: the first of the 50,000-mile system of roads constructed by the ancient Romans -- sections of which remain in use today
-- Robie House: the Chicago "prairie" style house designed by Frank Lloyd Wright that prefigured much of twentieth-century domestic architecture
-- Pompidou Center: the Parisian landmark that was the earliest attempt at building a totally flexible interior space, with movable floors and walls
-- Angkor Wat: the Cambodian temple that is the largest religious monument ever constructed
-- Golden Gate Bridge: a brilliant and beautiful answer to a supposedly "insoluble" structural problem

Each entry concludes with See Also references and further reading suggestions for those interested in more in-depth research on these spectacularstructures. The encyclopedia is fully illustrated and indexed.

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