Overview

A Scientist In The City is the kind of book that will open our eyes to the man-made world around us, and show us some of the scientific reasons for why we live the way we do. In his previous books, A Scientist AtThe Seashore and Meditations AtSunset, James Trefil used commonplacesettings in the natural world as a point of departurefor probing the mysteries of nature. In AScientist In The City, Trefil takes theopposite tack, looking at the quintessentialman-made environment of the city as a way of examiningthe forces that define our world. What does theheating system of a building or the construction ofa bridge tell us about the development of a city?What does the amplified environmental stress ofcity life on plants and animals suggest about thewild? How have scientific advances in buildingmaterials and an understanding of the structure of theatom helped to shape the cities of today? From anexplanation of the evolution and influence ofplate glass to reinforced steel to an analysis of thefuture of the skyscraper, A Scientist InThe City offers a fascinating study ofthe promise and the consequences of technology inour everyday urban lives. In addition, Trefil goeson to explore how the new technologies beingdeveloped today will help to determine the changingforms that cities will take in the future. AScientist In The City is the kind ofbook that will open our eyes to the man-made worldaround us, and show us some of the scientificreasons for why we live the way we do.

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9780385261098

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Reviews

Clear and coherent...refreshingly clear-eyed and unsentimental. -- Washington Post. A highly readable look at cities that casually ranges from mudhuts to glass-and-steel skyscrapers, from the atomic structure of iron to the top of the Sears Tower in Chicago. -- San Francisco Chronicle. Clear andcoherent...refreshingly clear-eyed andunsentimental. -- Washington Post. A highly readable look at cities that casuallyranges from mudhuts to glass-and-steel skyscrapers, from the atomic structure of iron to the top of theSears Tower in Chicago. -- SanFrancisco Chronicle.

Clear and coherent...refreshingly clear-eyed and unsentimental. -- Washington Post, <br> A highly readable look at cities that casually ranges from mudhuts to glass-and-steel skyscrapers, from the atomic structure of iron to the top of the Sears Tower in Chicago. -- San Francisco Chronicle,

"""Clear and  coherent...refreshingly clear-eyed and  unsentimental.""-- Washington Post. ""A highly readable look at cities that casually  ranges from mudhuts to glass-and-steel skyscrapers,  from the atomic structure of iron to the top of the  Sears Tower in Chicago."" -- San  Francisco Chronicle."

Author Information

James Trefil, the Robinson Professor of Physics at George Mason University, is the author of more than 40 books and 100 articles in professional journals. He is a fellow of the American Physical Society, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the World Economic Forum. He is the recipient of the Andrew Gemant Award from the American Institute of Physics, the Westinghouse and Subaru Awards from the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the 2008 Science Writing Award from the American Physical Society.

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