Customer Reviews
Essential reading for engineers - By: Peter Debney, 17 Jul 2008 
This & his companion book on materials should be compulsory reading on all physical engineering courses. It will also be very useful for medical students to understand how muscles & skeletons work.
If you do not have a copy of both, go & buy them now.
A fun set book - By: Mr. David Walland, 03 Jul 2008 This book & it's sister title were set books for my BScin Safety & Health backin the 70s. Both have been read so many times that they are suffering to the extent of needing replacement. Prof Gordon charmed me when I saw a lecture by him about composite materials on OU, & these books approach learning so joyfully that you hardly realise it's happening. My wife, who is a Glass Artist has also read & enjoyed both, & given her allergy to mathematics, that is high praise indeed.
More textbooks should be as approachable & more teachers should be as "un-po-faced" about their subject as this author. Read it just for fun & remember: whether pussy is pulling or you're pulling, the strain on the tail's the same!
wonderful read . a treasure - By: , 20 Jun 2004 i loved this book. i am a lay reader but it gave me a good understanding of structures & is writtenin such & entertaining way. i would recommend this to anyone . it is a model of how the complexities of the world can be explainedin a clear & enjoyable way.
Not very technical and too friendly - By: , 30 Jul 2003 
This is a book that I admire for its honesty. It's not too technical or detailedin the technology involvedin structures, but this is why it was written. For common people, degree starters & professionals that want some expert opinion on everyday structural work. You won't find only philosophy or only random thoughts, or just technical details. You will not get the feeling that the book scratches the surface. For the simple reason, this book does all this at the same timein a special way that it is a beautifull read, a nice historic overviewin structural engineering & offers simple answers to the question "why materials do that or that".
The book has two main audiences. First, starters to the science of material & structural angineering. Second, experts to these science group that want some opinions & historic reference from a mature professional that had workedin the design, study & maintaince of various structures, from aircrafts & ships to boilers & even.. plants & humans.
It's real beauty of this book resides to the fact that it behaves to materials at the same time & with the same 'respect'. It doesn't matter if it's wood, or steel, or concrete, or even bat's skin. They are all materials that share the same science over different properties.
Structures - By: Matthew Fox, 14 Jul 2002 The book is a good introduction to engineering of any sort particuly civil or structural. It would be beneficial to anyone about to take A level physics & beyond. It pulls together losts of laws by famous scientists & presents itin different but interesting ways. The language is sometimes quite technical but is easy to understand with some previous knowledgein the subject & or after a few chapters of the book. an enjoyable read intersting read
