Science and the City: The Mechanics Behind the Metropolis

Author(s): Laurie Winkless

Science | Local Authors

Cities are a big deal. More people now live in them than don't, and with a growing world population, the urban jungle is only going to get busier in the coming decades. But how often do we stop to think about what makes our cities work?


Cities are built using some of the most creative and revolutionary science and engineering ideas - from steel structures that scrape the sky to glass cables that help us communicate at the speed of light - but most of us are too busy to notice.


Science and the City is your guidebook to that hidden world, helping you to uncover some of the remarkable technologies that keep the world's great metropolises moving.


Laurie Winkless takes us around cities in six continents to find out how they're dealing with the challenges of feeding, housing, powering and connecting more people than ever before. In this book, you'll meet urban pioneers from history, along with today's experts in everything from roads to time, and you will uncover the vital role science has played in shaping the city around you. But more than that, by exploring cutting-edge research from labs across the world, you'll build your own vision of the megacity of tomorrow, based on science fact rather than science fiction.


Science and the City is the perfect read for anyone curious about the world they live in.


Product Information

The science of the city, now and in the future.

Laurie Winkless is a physicist and writer, currently based in Wellington, New Zealand. Following a degree at Trinity College Dublin, a placement at NASA's Kennedy Space Centre, and a masters in Space Science at UCL, Laurie worked at the National Physical Laboratory, specialising in materials. Thermoelectric energy harvesting - where heat is captured and converted into electricity - was her bag, and remains a favourite topic of conversation. Laurie has been communicating science to the public for more than a decade, working with schools and universities, the Royal Society, Forbes, and the Naked Scientists, amongst others. She's given TEDx talks, hung out with astronauts, and appeared in The Times magazine as a leading light in STEM. Science and the City is her first book. @laurie_winkless

1. Up: The most visible part of a city's skyline is the skyscraper - do you know how they're built? 2. Switch: Sparks will fly - we'll explore the role of electricity, and you'll understand how the grid works 3. Wet: Cities can't survive without water, and they produce a lot of waste. Expect toilet humour! 4. Way: Let's head out on the open road, and explore beautiful bridges and the science of traffic jams 5. Drive: What good is a road without a car? Here we'll talk about everything from tyres to fuel cells 6. Loco: We'll dig our very own tunnel, and you'll discover why `leaves on the line' cause problems 7. Connect: Cities contain other less obvious networks - food and goods, communications and money 8. City: Spend a day of discovery in an imaginary future city

General Fields

  • : 9781472913234
  • : Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
  • : Featherstone Education
  • : August 2017
  • : 198mm X 129mm
  • : United Kingdom
  • : books

Special Fields

  • : Laurie Winkless
  • : Paperback
  • : 303.483091732
  • : 304
  • : black and white illustrations throughout