Systems analysis.

BUILDING: 3000 YEARS OF DESIGN, ENGINEERING AND CONSTRUCTION

By Bill Addis. London: Phaidon. 2007. [pounds sterling]45

This is a veritable tome--a history book that is admirable in its depth and breadth of reference and research, not by any means to be read in one sitting but more than a point of reference. Addis is a story teller and thereby humanises what is often a dry subject matter; although you could argue at times, given the ground he has to cover, this can become a little self-indulgent--did I really need to know that Frezier imported the most fashionable breed of strawberry to Europe? But then it has stuck with me.

The book concludes that we are in an age of systems engineering, where the output is the sum of the parts and a holistic, multi-disciplinary view needs to be taken. This is theoretically the theme of the book, and therefore an apt conclusion, but not the message that comes through in the earlier chapters, where structural engineering occupies at least three quarters of the picture, and I could not help wondering if Addis would have done better to stick to the subject that he knows and loves which is clearly enough ground to cover--an overview of the interaction between the disciplines might need to be a little less detailed.

With every chapter I have read I have learnt something new, and once into what is at first quite a daunting volume the story as told is captivating. You realise as you reach the end that perspective is the art of history writing as the clarity of the position of building engineering at any one time and place that is achieved in retrospect is very difficult to put across when you are, so to speak, in the middle of it.

Certainly a book that every structural engineer should own, in order to know a bit more about where they are coming from and perhaps to prompt some questions about where it is all going. And if this book does reach a wider audience it would be a good thing for the profession to be heard and better understood.

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