How Things Were Built

July 6th, 2009

This book is another book that I found on the subject of architecture for children. It is called the Random House Book of How Things Were Built. It is also a hardback, large book. It is an illustrated history of ore than 60 of the world's greatest structures - from the Great Pyramid to the Golden Gate Bridge. The book measure 8.75x11.6x0.6 inches and it is by David J. Brown, published in 1992. It is a thick book with lots of pages to read. Although there are lots of pictures and illustrations on almost every page, the book packed full of information and facts that the kids will spend a long time reading.

Table of Content of How Things Were Built

The Ancient World

Early Dwellings
Catalhuyuk
Step Pyramids
Great Pyramids
Egyptian Temples
Mesopotamia
Agamemnon's Tomb
The Parthenon
Theatre at Epidaurus
The Sixth Wonder
Stonehenge
Great Wall of China
Roman Roads
The Colosseum
The Pantheon
Early Basilicas

The Age of Discovery

The Hagia Sophia
Durham Cathedral
Chartres Cathedral
Salisbury Cathedral
Florence Cathedral
The Tower of London
Old Amsterdam
Machu Picchu
Wooden Buildings
The Leaning Tower
Westminster Hall
Angkor Wat
Old London Bridge
The Taj Mahal
St. Paul's Cathedral
The Royal Crescent
The Mosque at Djenne

The New Technology

Ironbridge
Menai Straits Bridge
Crystal Palace
Galerie des Machines
Forth Rail Bridge
The Eiffel Tower
The Sagrada Familia
Early Skyscrapers
Empires State Building
The Hoover Dam
L'Unite D'Habitation
Sydney Opera House
Habitat, Montreal
Sydney Harbour Bridge
Golden Gate Bridge

The Modern World

The Pompidou Center
Olympic Stadium
Hong Kong Bank
The Channel Tunnel
A New Bank
A New Town Hall
La Tour Sans Fin
Kansai Airport

For each building in this book, the book goes through explaining what the building is for and how it was built with illustration for each stage of the building. It is very educational to read this book. Not only the kids learn about the world's history but they also learn how important buildings were built. And, by knowing how they were built, the kids can remember facts about them better. It is probably not what this book is intended for but my kids became fascinated with history after this and they also found ways to memorize facts using the visual aids of this book. So, overall, this is a great book.