design and construction

Contains photographs and profiles of more than 300 LEGO sets from the 1950s to the 2010s.

Text and illustrations explore how computers are built.

Text and illustrations explore how bridges are built.

Charlie Brown tells the story of the Central Pacific Railroad and the Union Pacific Railroad meeting and making history.

Video companion to the books by David Macaulay in which he explores ancient architecture and early civilizations.

As the 19th century morphed into the 20th, the automobile was still in its infancy, yet more and more manufacturers were entering the burgeoning market. The first National Automobile Show was held in New York City’s Madison Square in 1900, with 51 exhibitors showing off their wares to almost 50,000 visitors. But many of these manufacturers dropped by the wayside or were merged into other companies so that by the end of the 1920s the industry was dominated by the Big Three of Chrysler, Ford, and General Motors. The vehicle that had the biggest impact was the Ford Model T (which arrived in 1908 and more than 15 million had been sold by the time production ceased in 1927), but many other American classics are covered in this publication: legends such as the Ford Mustang and Thunderbird, the Chevrolet Bel Air and Corvette, Cadillac’s De Ville and Eldorado, along with names of a bygone era such as Packard, Studebaker, and the unrivaled opulence of Duesenberg.

An introduction to biking, skateboarding, snowboarding, and surfing that explains the physics behind each sport, describes different techniques and tricks, and traces the history of various styles of boards and bikes.

Welcome to a world that is both vanishing down the end of the straight and yet tantalizingly close at hand. The great thing about superbikes is that they are accessible. By definition, race regulations give you the chance to ride bikes which are very like those that are sweeping all before them on the track. Rules for the Superbike World Championships demand that the models entering must be similar to those produced and sold to the public, receiving only tuning and minor adaptations in order to stay eligible. Therefore, manufacturers must produce (at least) an agreed number of the models for sale so that their superbike can enter these competitions. Generally profile, appearance and frame must stay the same, although wheels, brakes, suspensions and swingarm may vary. But for look and feel, your ride can get very close. So, for instance, you, too, like the great Max Biaggi, can ride bikes such as the Aprilia RSV4 1000 or the Factory model, the successor to the Aprilia RSV1000R, on which he became Superbike World Champion in 2010 and 2012 respectively.

Many of the bikes featured in this book are classics from the heyday of motorbike manufacturing. Sadly a number of these famous names – such as Ariel, BSA, and Velocette – are consigned to the history books and the bikes themselves have become more and more of a collector’s item. Many credit the demise of the British motorbike industry to the invasion of the Japanese manufacturers (Kawasaki, Suzuki, Honda and Yamaha) in the 1970s that changed the face of motorcycling in Britain as they established themselves as a global phenomenon but brands such as Royal Enfield, Norton and Triumph have survived into the 21st Century and now proudly cruise the country’s roads alongside the likes of Harley-Davidson and BMW.

This book describes extreme custom cars including Rick Dobbertin's surface orbiter, Jerry Bower's hot rod school bus, and Dean Jeffries's Landmaster, and gives a brief description of the process of customizing.