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Engineering in Plain Sight: An Illustrated Field Guide to the Constructed Environment

by Grady Hillhouse

A field guide to the infrastructure around us

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AlbakiReads Editorial

A field guide to the infrastructure around us

Grady Hillhouse turns familiar parts of the built environment into subjects for closer inspection. Organized as illustrated sections, the book explains features of electrical grids, roads, railways, bridges, tunnels, waterways, and other infrastructure, pairing identification cues with accessible accounts of how these systems are designed and constructed. Its field-guide approach makes everyday structures the material for practical observation: a bridge or stretch of roadway can be examined not just as a route, but as an engineered object with details to recognize and understand.

Good fit for readers who enjoy

  • Non-engineers seeking accessible explanations of civil engineering and infrastructure
  • Readers interested in identifying features of the built environment
  • A useful companion for road trips and outdoor observation

Themes

Civil engineeringInfrastructure and the built environmentDesign and constructionObservation and identification

Based on publisher information and book metadata.

Book overview

Engineering in Plain Sight is a beautifully illustrated field guide with accessible explanations to nearly every part of the constructed world around us.

Author Grady Hillhouse is the creator behind the popular YouTube channel Practical Engineering (over 4.5 million subscribers!) and this book is essentially 50 new episodes crammed between two covers.


Engineering in Plain Sight extends the field guide genre from natural phenomena to human-made structures, making them approachable and understandable to non-engineers. It transforms readers' perspectives of the built environment, converting the act of looking at infrastructure from a mundane inevitability into an everyday diversion and joy.

Each section of this accessible, informative book features colorful illustrations revealing the fascinating details of how the human-made world works. An ideal road trip companion, this book offers a fresh perspective on the parts of the environment that often blend into the background. Readers will learn to identify characteristics of the electrical grid, roadways, railways, bridges, tunnels, waterways, and more. Engineering in Plain Sight inspires curiosity, interest, and engagement in how the infrastructure around us is designed and constructed.
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Customer reviews

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Malaika Taylor

I highly recommend to for anyone looking for inner clarity

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Thomas DiMassa

Great service and fast service

Great shopping experience! The book arrived quickly, was well packaged, and matched the description perfectly. I would definitely shop with you again

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Olivia

Smooth.