Overview

This is the engrossing story of the world's most common man-made material - from ancient times to the present day. Concrete: We walk on it, drive on it, and many of us work within its walls. Yet, very few of us know what it is. We take it for granted, yet the story of its creation and development features a cast of fascinating characters and remarkable historical episodes. In a lively narrative filled with intriguing details, ""Concrete Planet"" describes how some of history's most famous personalities helped in the development and use of concrete - including King Herod, Emperor Hadrian, Thomas Edison, and Frank Lloyd Wright. It also examines evidence suggesting the discovery of concrete led directly to the Neolithic Revolution (8,000-5,000 BC) and the rise of the earliest civilizations, and how, much later, the Romans achieved extraordinarily high production standards - seen in structures such as the Coliseum and the Pantheon - which were lost for millennia after the Empire's fall.

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9781616144814

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Reviews

The history of concrete construction is an unlikely subject for a popular book, but Robert Courland's Concrete Planet engages the reader like a who done it novel. Courland easily and seamlessly covers the science, technology, craft, and architectural expression in the invention and use of concrete with precision and lively prose, describing both the best and the worst examples of its use over the ages and in the present. He successfully manages to bring more than two thousand years of human history alive using concrete as the thread, while delving deep enough to reveal the intimate details of the business and family lives of its famous, and sometimes infamous, inventors, designers, and builders across the Western world. Randolph Langenbach, former senior analyst in response and recovery at FEMA, author of Don't Tear It Down! A delightful excursion through time and across continents! Dr. Robert Nason, author and former USGS seismologist Concrete Planet is an unimaginably poetic and nuanced look at the most common substance on earth, a lumpen and lifeless mass that has been molded into a thing of sculpted beauty, turned our horizontal society into a vertical one, and will serve as our visual legacy long after we are gone. This is a fascinating work by a great historian. I could not put it down. James Dalessandro, author of 1906: A Novel

The history of concrete construction is an unlikely subject for a popular book, but Robert Courland's Concrete Planet engages the reader like a who done it novel. Courland easily and seamlessly covers the science, technology, craft, and architectural expression in the invention and use of concrete with precision and lively prose, describing both the best and the worst examples of its use over the ages and in the present. He successfully manages to bring more than two thousand years of human history alive using concrete as the thread, while delving deep enough to reveal the intimate details of the business and family lives of its famous, and sometimes infamous, inventors, designers, and builders across the Western world. Randolph Langenbach, former senior analyst in response and recovery at FEMA, author of Don't Tear It Down! A delightful excursion through time and across continents! Dr. Robert Nason, author and former USGS seismologist Concrete Planet is an unimaginably poetic and nuanced look at the most common substance on earth, a lumpen and lifeless mass that has been molded into a thing of sculpted beauty, turned our horizontal society into a vertical one, and will serve as our visual legacy long after we are gone. This is a fascinating work by a great historian. I could not put it down. James Dalessandro, author of 1906: A Novel

The history of concrete construction is an unlikely subject for a popular book, but Robert Courland's Concrete Planet engages the reader like a who done it novel. Courland easily and seamlessly covers the science, technology, craft, and architectural expression in the invention and use of concrete with precision and lively prose, describing both the best and the worst examples of its use over the ages and in the present. He successfully manages to bring more than two thousand years of human history alive using concrete as the thread, while delving deep enough to reveal the intimate details of the business and family lives of its famous, and sometimes infamous, inventors, designers, and builders across the Western world. <br>Randolph Langenbach, former senior analyst in response and recovery at FEMA, author of Don't Tear It Down!<br><br> A delightful excursion through time and across continents! <br>Dr. Robert Nason, author and former USGS seismologist <br><br> Concrete Planet is an unimaginably poetic and nuanced look at the most common substance on earth, a lumpen and lifeless mass that has been molded into a thing of sculpted beauty, turned our horizontal society into a vertical one, and will serve as our visual legacy long after we are gone. This is a fascinating work by a great historian. I could not put it down. <br>James Dalessandro, author of 1906: A Novel

The history of concrete construction is an unlikely subject for a popular book, but Robert Courland's Concrete Planet engages the reader like a who done it novel. Courland easily and seamlessly covers the science, technology, craft, and architectural expression in the invention and use of concrete with precision and lively prose, describing both the best and the worst examples of its use over the ages and in the present. He successfully manages to bring more than two thousand years of human history alive using concrete as the thread, while delving deep enough to reveal the intimate details of the business and family lives of its famous, and sometimes infamous, inventors, designers, and builders across the Western world. Randolph Langenbach, former senior analyst in response and recovery at FEMA, author of Don't Tear It Down! A delightful excursion through time and across continents! Dr. Robert Nason, author and former USGS seismologist Concrete Planet is an unimaginably poetic and nuanced look at the most common substance on earth, a lumpen and lifeless mass that has been molded into a thing of sculpted beauty, turned our horizontal society into a vertical one, and will serve as our visual legacy long after we are gone. This is a fascinating work by a great historian. I could not put it down. James Dalessandro, author of 1906: A Novel

""""The history of concrete construction is an unlikely subject for a popular book, but Robert Courland's Concrete Planet engages the reader like a who done it novel. Courland easily and seamlessly covers the science, technology, craft, and architectural expression in the invention and use of concrete with precision and lively prose, describing both the best and the worst examples of its use over the ages and in the present. He successfully manages to bring more than two thousand years of human history alive using concrete as the thread, while delving deep enough to reveal the intimate details of the business and family lives of its famous, and sometimes infamous, inventors, designers, and builders across the Western world.""Randolph Langenbach, former senior analyst in response and recovery at FEMA, author of Don't Tear It Down!""A delightful excursion through time and across continents!""Dr. Robert Nason, author and former USGS seismologist ""Concrete Planet is an unimaginably poetic and nuanced look at the most common substance on earth, a lumpen and lifeless mass that has been molded into a thing of sculpted beauty, turned our horizontal society into a vertical one, and will serve as our visual legacy long after we are gone. This is a fascinating work by a great historian. I could not put it down."" James Dalessandro, author of 1906: A Novel

Author Information

Robert Courland is an award-winning author. He has also written a number of successful magazine articles, screenplays, and television commercials.

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