Replete with the author's striking photographs, Infrastructure is a unique and spectacular guide, exploring all the major "ecosystems" of our modern industrial world, revealing what the structures are and why they are there, and uncovering beauty in unexpected places. Covering agriculture, resources, energy, communication, transportation, manufacturing and waste, this is the perfect companion to the industrial landscape. The objects that fill our everyday environment, such as streetlights, railway tracks, antenna towers, motorway overpasses, satellite dishes and thousands of other manufactured items, are so familiar they have become so familiar we hardly notice them. Larger and more exotic facilities have transformed vast tracts of the landscape: coal mines, nuclear power plants, oil refineries and steel mills, to name a few. This book is a compelling and clear guide for those who want to explore and understand this mysterious world created by man.

Springing from the notion that it might be of interest to know the function of the myriad industrial structures that surround us, Hayes (a senior writer for American Scientist) presents a thorough guide to the stacks, pipes, drums, wires, tanks, silos, dams, levies, towers and other familiar pieces of the industrial landscape that we see each day. He describes the use and technology of each industrial part as well as the overall installation, with dams, mines, power plants, oil and gas refineries, highways, railroads, electrical systems, waste and recycling facilities, shipping, aviation, communications, and bridges and tunnels the main protagonists. Filled with details about individual examples and exceptions, as well as an enthusiastic and accessible accounting of the general facts of each type of technology, this is a wonderfully ambitious volume designed to awaken the reader's curiosity to the (largely) American industrial landscape. Illustrated with color photos (taken mainly by Hayes), the volume is oversize (10.25x10.25<">).
Annotation ©2005 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Springing from the notion that it might be of interest to know the function of the myriad industrial structures that surround us, Hayes (a senior writer for American Scientist) presents a thorough guide to the stacks, pipes, drums, wires, tanks, silos, dams, levies, towers and other familiar pieces of the industrial landscape that we see each day. He describes the use and technology of each industrial part as well as the overall installation, with dams, mines, power plants, oil and gas refineries, highways, railroads, electrical systems, waste and recycling facilities, shipping, aviation, communications, and bridges and tunnels the main protagonists. Filled with details about individual examples and exceptions, as well as an enthusiastic and accessible accounting of the general facts of each type of technology, this is a wonderfully ambitious volume designed to awaken the reader's curiosity to the (largely) American industrial landscape. Illustrated with color photos (taken mainly by Hayes), the volume is oversize (10.25x10.25<">). Annotation ©2005 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Covering agriculture, resources, energy, communication, transportation, manufacturing and waste, this volume explores all the major ecosystems of the modern industrial world, revealing what the structures are and why they're there and uncovering beauty in unexpected places. Photos.