Summer Reading - Week 2
Tunnels and bridges, skyscrapers, canals and dams, and roadways - the human impact on land can be huge, awe-inspiring, and disturbing. Throughout Colorado's history, our mountains and deserts have inspired and challenged engineers and developers - and environmentalists. Colorado is home to some of the most ambitious projects in American history... from the famous (Royal Gorge , the higest suspension bridge in the world) to the obscure (the 50+ square mile Transportation Technology Center, the largest railroad research and development site in the U.S.), from the ultrasecret (Cheyenne Mountain) to the notorious (Rocky Flats).

The Center for Land Use Interpretation has an interesting list of civil engineering projects in Colorado and elsewhere. What exactly is "civil engineering"? Wikipedia has a concise and well-written definition.

Some of the most dramatic engineering feats in the state are also some of the most popular tourist sites - the Royal Gorge bridge; the many railroads, including the recently launched Rio Grande Scenic Railroad; the mines and mining towns that fed a century of gold, silver, coal, and other industries.

Some suggestions to help you get started:

Blackout / John Nance F Nan - technothriller
Cadillac Desert / Marc Reisner 333.91 Rei - civil engineering, water rights
The Control of Nature / John McPhee 304.2 Mcp - general engineering, essays
Dead Aim / Iris Johansen F Joh / thriller, disaster
The Door Into Summer / Robert Heinlein PBK SCI Hei - time travel, revenge
Flight: My Life in Mission Control / Chris Kraft 629.4 Kra - spaceflight history, autobiography, aerospace engineering
Earth / David Brin PBK SCI Bri - near future, technological innovation
The First Men in the Moon / H. G. Wells PBK SCI Wel - classic literature, space travel
Have Spacesuit, Will Travel / Robert Heinlein PBK SCI Hei - adventure, young adult
Heechee Rendezvous / Frederick Pohl PBK SCI Poh - alien technologies, adventure
The Hunt for Zero Point / Nick Cook 629.13 Coo - military technology, research
Inviting Disaster: Lessons from the Edge of Technology / James Chiles 363.1 Chi - disasters
Lindbergh / A. Scott Berg 629.13 Ber - biography, aerospace engineering
Moving Mars / Greg Bear SCI Bea - technological innovation
Orbit / John Nance F Nan NEW F Nan - technothriller
Our Story: 77 Hours that Tested our Friendship and our Faith / Jeff Goodall and the Quecreek Miners 622.8 Goo - mining, survival stories, inspirational
Prey / Michael Crichton F Cri and AC Cri - technothriller
A River out of Eden / John Hockenberry F Hoc / ecological debates, dam building
Road to Riches: The Great Railroad Race to Aspen / Cathy Clamp WES Cla - railroads, Western stories
Rocket Boys (audiobook) / Homer Hickam AC 629.1 Hic - autobiography, aerospace engineering
Skyhook / John Nance F Nan F Nan - technothriller
Stormbreaker / Anthony Horowitz YAF Hor Bk. 1 - technothriller, young adult
The Terrible Hours / Peter Maas 910 Maa and AC 910 Maa - survival stories, military technology, shipwrecks
They Made America: Two Centuries of Innovators from the Steam Engine to the Search Engine / Harold Evans 609.2 Eva - history of invention
Thread of the Silkworm / Iris Chang 629.1 Cha - biography, aerospace engineering