Book cover of Nuts and Bolts: Seven Small Inventions That Changed the World (in a Big Way)

Book description

Some of engineering's mightiest achievements are small in scale, even hidden-and yet, without them, the complex machinery on which our modern world runs would not exist. In Nuts and Bolts, Roma Agrawal examines seven of these extraordinary elements: the nail, the wheel, the spring, the lens, the magnet, the string,…

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Why read it?

1 author picked Nuts and Bolts as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Full disclosure, I was interviewed for the chapter on springs but I promise to be unbiased! I’ve been a fan of Agrawal’s work since Built.

A structural engineer by training, she’s an amazing storyteller with the most incredible way of deconstructing and explaining technology. Nuts & Bolts is no different, you’ll never look at the world around you in the same way again, from bicycles to breast pumps and tiny rivets to the ISS. It will fill you with the enthusiasm of a child discovering the world around you all over again.

From Rebecca's list on for people who love taking things apart.

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These Blue Mountains by Sarah Loudin Thomas,

A moving story of love, betrayal, and the enduring power of hope in the face of darkness.

German pianist Hedda Schlagel's world collapsed when her fiancé, Fritz, vanished after being sent to an enemy alien camp in the United States during the Great War. Fifteen years later, in 1932, Hedda…

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