The Heights
By Kate Ascher
If you’ve already read about what goes across the city in Underground by David Macauley, then The Heights will give you an idea of what goes up into a building. Once you are done reading this book, you’ll never take another office building or apartment block for granted again. From insulation to elevators and ventilation systems, every component of a modern skyscraper is explained in minute detail.
What makes Ascher’s books different to other engineering texts are her full-colour computer graphics that shows exactly what she means in the text. A picture is worth a million words in this case, when she can just point to a diagram and tell you “here, this is what I mean”. I’ve had more “aha” moments reading Ascher’s works than any other engineering journal in university libraries.
Her books don’t come cheap though. Printed in quality glossy paper to enhance the quality of graphics, any one of her works will set you back at lease US$20 excluding shipping.
