Civil Engineering: A Very Short Introduction

Description

Very Short Introductions have proven to be extremely popular with general readers, as well as undergraduates and their lecturers.

Civil engineering produces the structures of all human settlements worldwide and is a vital discipline for many aspects modern life, underlying housing, transport, and our major areas and buildings related to work, study, and leisure.

In this Very Short Introduction, David Muir Wood demonstrates the nature and importance of civil engineering not only in the history of civilization and urbanization, but its range of facets today, and its challenges for the future. Beginning with the challenge of creating a settlement on a deserted island, which sets out the problems that civil engineers need to solve, he looks at the social and environmental considerations as well as the science, technology, and craft of building bridges, tunnels, houses, and areas of recreation.

He highlights the lives of some major civil engineers, including Brunel and Bazalgette, considers the challenges of managing water and energy, and looks at our increasing sensitivity to building and the environment.

Key Features

• Highlights the impact civil engineering has on all parts of life – buildings related to work, study, and leisure
• A broad introduction to the discipline of civil engineering
• Examines the nature and importance of civil engineering in the history of civilization and urbanization
• Explores its challenges for the future – managing water and energy and our sensitivity to buildings and the environment
• Part of the best-selling Very Short Introductions series – over five million copies sold worldwide

Table of Contents

1. Civil engineering
2. Materials of civil engineering
3. Water and waste
4. Directing the great sources of power in nature’
5. Concept – technology – realisation
6. Robustness
7. The future
8. Further reading

About the Series

Oxford’s Very Short Introductions series offers concise and original introductions to a wide range of subjects – from Public Health to Buddhist Ethics, Soft Matter to Classics, and Art History to Globalization. Each volume provides an authoritative and engaging assessment of a concept, field, or body of work, drawing out the central ideas, themes, and approaches. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, new insights, and enthusiasm to make often challenging topics highly readable to develop your core knowledge. With over 700 titles and many more in development, as well as regularly updated new editions, the series is constantly evolving to reflect a contemporary readership. Whatever your area of study, whatever the topic that fascinates you, the series is an indispensable and accessible guide that will enrich your understanding.

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Author Biography

David Muir Wood, Emeritus Professor of Civil Engineering at the University of Bristol

David Muir Wood is Emeritus Professor of Civil Engineering at the University of Bristol and Professor of Geotechnical Engineering, University of Dundee. He is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering.