Since the earliest days of the republic, great engineering projects have shaped American landscapes and expressed American dreams. The ambition to build lies as close to the nation's heart as the belief in liberty. We live in a built civilization, connected one to another in an enormous web of technology. Yet we have all too often overlooked the role of engineers and builders in American history. With glorious photographs and epic narrative sweep, Great Projects at last gives their story the prominence it deserves. Each of the eight projects featured in this masterful narrative was a milestone in its own right: the flood-control works of the lower Mississippi, Hoover Dam, Edison's lighting system, the spread of electricity across the nation, the great Croton Aqueduct, the bridges of New York City, Boston's revamped street system, known as the Big Dig, and the ever-evolving communica- tions network called the Internet. Each project arose from a heroic vision. Each encountered obstacles. Each reveals a tale of genius and perseverance. James Tobin, winner of a National Book Critics Circle Award, explains the four essential tasks of the engineer: to protect people from the destructive force of water while harnessing it for the enormous good it can do; to provide people with electricity, the motive force of modern life; to make great cities habitable and vital; and to create the pathways that connect place to place and person to person. Tobin focuses on the indi- viduals behind our greatest structures of earth and concrete and steel: James Buchanan Eads, who walked on the floor of the Mississippi to learn the river's secrets; Arthur Powell Davis and Frank Crowe, who imagined a dam that could transform the West; Thomas Edison, who envisioned a new way to light the world; Samuel Insull, the organizational mastermind of the electrical revolution; the long-forgotten John Bloomfield Jervis, who assured New York's future with the gift of clean water; Othmar Ammann, the modest Swiss-American who fought his mentor to become the first engineer to bridge the lower Hudson River; Fred Salvucci, the antihighway rebel who transformed the face of Boston; and J.C.R. Licklider, the obscure scientist who first imagined the Internet. Here, too, are the workers who scorned hardship to turn the engineers' dreams into reality, deep underground and high in the sky, through cold and heat and danger. In Great Projects -- soon to be a major PBS television series by the Emmy Award-winning Great Projects Film Company -- we share their dreams and witness their struggles; we watch them create the modern world we walk through each day -- the "city upon a hill" that became our America.

Shop tested expert advice for woodworkers on how to build 50 attractive and functional woodworking projects for all areas of the house from storage for the kitchen and the outdoors, to furniture and heirlooms. An ideal resource for woodworkers looking for a new project or wanting to spruce up their home, this book has plans for projects that can take a few hours, or up to a weekend to complete.

Great Colonial America Projects You Can Build Yourself introduces readers ages 9–12 to colonial America through hands-on building projects. From dyeing and spinning yarn to weaving cloth, from creating tin plates and lanterns to learning wattle and daub construction. Great Colonial America Projects You Can Build Yourself gives readers a chance to experience how colonial Americans lived, cooked, entertained themselves, and interacted with their neighbors.

Great Medieval Projects You Can Build Yourself brings the Middle Ages in Europe alive through hands-on activities for kids ages 9-12. Addressing various aspects of medieval life, this book provides historically accurate details of the period leading up to the Renaissance. From monastic life to castle living, villages to towns, each section offers a glimpse into the daily existence of the people who lived in medieval Europe. Sidebars and fun trivia break up the text. Readers will expand their knowledge of this era beyond knights, fair maidens, and castles as they learn about siege warfare, life in a medieval village, medieval clothing, markets and fairs, the Plague, medieval medicine, and the Crusades.

In this book some 50 papers published by K A Müller as author or co-author over several decades, amplified by more recent work mainly by T W Kool with collaborators, are reproduced. The main subject is Electron Paramagnetic Resonance (EPR) applied to the study of perovskites and other oxides with related subjects. This wealth of papers is organized into eleven chapters, each with an introductory text written in the light of current understanding. The contributions of the first editor on structural phase transitions have been immense, and because K A Müller and J C Fayet have published a review paper on the subject, the latter is reproduced in chapter VII. Not related to EPR is a part of chapter VIII on the dipolar and quantum paraelectric behavior with dielectric studies. In chapter X two papers proving the existence of Fermi glasses are reproduced.The year 1986 bears some significance: early in this year the paper by Bednorz and Müller on the possible observation of superconductivity was published. This resulted in a substantial shift in the paradigm of condensed matter physics, to which the present first editor has contributed scientifically with others and which will be reviewed in a second volume.

Whether you are new to glass fusing or a veteran glass crafter, you will find fresh ideas in this book. Information on fusing glass compatibility, firing schedules, and fusing materials is presented for fusers with minimal experience. More advanced techniques and components are included for fusers wishing to add extra depth to their work. Within the 40 projects you will find a variety of skill levels for practical and decorative items—herb and garden markers, bowls, serving dishes, hanging panels, house numbers, jewelry cases, and more. Complete instructions in text are accompanied by step-by-step photographs. Full-size patterns, materials lists, and beautiful finished project photos are included.

Complete instructions, patterns, material lists, and step-by-step photos for 18 projects—panels, boxes, candleholders, sun catchers, ornaments, and more—suitable for beginners. All great looking and using the newest styles of glass—many have the contemporary look popular on Etsy and Pinterest. For each project, finished project photos, full-size pattern, materials list, and technique photos and instruction are presented, along with variations of some patterns. Includes expert advice for the basic techniques of glass cutting, grinding, foiling, and soldering.