Books about Engineering

[MWC PE]

I don't often enjoy reading about engineering (sometimes its a bit too much like work) but every once in a while I do come across something that can hold my interest. What are some books about engineering that you have read?

Books I liked:
"Traffic" by Tom Vanderbilt

Interesting look at how and why traffic works the way it does. Also this book converted me to a late merger and has saved me hours of my life.

"The Big Roads" by Earl Swift

A really nice history of the US highway and interstate systems. Starting with mud or macadamized roads at the turn of the 20th century and going through the completion of the interstates.

Books I didn't like

"The Road Ahead" Philip Tarhoff

"To Big to Fall" Barry LePatner

I found both of these a bit too preachy. I would agree with the author on some of the points but they would then hammer the point a few more chapters until I lost interest.

 

[Capt Worley PE]

Two you might like are Mass Motorization and Mass Transit and How We Got Here.

 

[mudpuppy]

The Engineer in America was a decent read about the history of engineering in the US. This was put together by a prof at my alma mater and was required reading for one of the humanities classes, but I thought it was interesting nonetheless.

 

[Capt Worley PE]

Anything by Henry Petroski is good.

Why Things Bite Back was an interesting look at unintended consequences.

Inviting Disaster was an pretty good look at some well known, and some forgotten failures in engineering and human behavior.

 

[envirotex]

Oil! by Upton Sinclair. The first half is a really good narrative about the petroleum industry in the early 1900s. The second half is about communism, didn't enjoy that so much.

Also, A Civil Action for how science works in litigation.