m Seven Wonders of i l l E r E nginE Er ing About the Author Have you ever wondered… Hugo Award-winning author and Ron Miller Seven Wonders of illustrator Ron Miller specializes in books about science. He has written How engineers create tall skyscrapers? SE EnginEEring The Elements: What You Really Want To v Know and Special Effects: An Introduction How engineers design rockets to tHe Moon? E n In every age, to Movie Magic for Twenty-First wHat nanoMacHines can do? science and W Century Books. His original paintings technology have played an important o can be found in collections all over the These and other engineering wonders are found throughout role in advancing human civilization. n world. Miller lives in Virginia. the world. Read about the science and technology behind From architecture to engineering, d these incredible feats: E communication to transportation, r humans have invented and developed The Channel Tunnel between France and Great Britain S extraordinary wonders. The Empire State Building in New York City o f Engineers take the discoveries of The Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco Front Cover: NASA/JSC (top left); © Sandia E scientists and mathematicians to make National Laboratories/Photo Researchers, Nanomachines developed at Sandia National Lab (New n practical things, from roads and bridges Inc. (top center); © Ron Chapple Studios/ Mexico) and Lawrence Berkeley National Lab (California) g Dreamstime.com (top right); © DENIS The Panama Canal in Panama in to weapons and vehicles. Electronic CHARLET/AFP/Getty Images (center); engineers design and build everything E © iStockphoto.com/Dean Birinyi (bottom The Saturn 5 Rocket launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida E from television sets to computers. r left); © Nevada Wier/The Image Bank/Getty Images (bottom center); Imaginechina via AP Three Gorges Dam in China in Chemical engineers research new uses Images (bottom right). g for plastics and other materials. Other Seven Wonders Read all titles in the seRies: engineers design new energy sources and nonpolluting factories. SEvEn natural WondErS SEvEn WondErS of SEvEn WondErS of of africa anciEnt africa architEcturE In this book, we’ll explore seven SEvEn natural WondErS SEvEn WondErS of SEvEn WondErS of wonders of modern engineering that of thE arctic, antarctica, anciEnt aSia communication and thE ocEanS SEvEn WondErS of anciEnt SEvEn WondErS of allow people to travel beneath the SEvEn natural WondErS of cEntral and South amErica EnginEEring ocean, bring power to entire cities, aSia and thE middlE EaSt SEvEn WondErS of SEvEn WondErS of SEvEn natural WondErS of anciEnt grEEcE Exploration tEchnology and land on the moon. We’ll also see auStralia and ocEania SEvEn WondErS of thE SEvEn WondErS of grEEn engineering wonders that cut though SEvEn natural WondErS of anciEnt middlE EaSt Building tEchnology cEntral and South amErica t a continent and design engines too SEvEn WondErS of anciEnt SEvEn WondErS of W SEvEn natural WondErS north amErica mEdicinE E small to see. Along the way, we’ll see n of EuropE SEvEn WondErS of thE SEvEn WondErS of ty advancements in materials, technology, SEvEn natural WondErS anciEnt World tranSportation -f of north amErica ir and construction techniques, and we’ll S t learn the stories of how and why these c E n engineering feats became important to t tWEnty-firSt cEntury BookS u the world. r A division of Lerner Publishing Group y 241 First Avenue North • Minneapolis, MN 55401 www.lernerbooks.com Printed and bound in U.S.A. ReinfoRced binding m Seven Wonders of i l l E r E nginE Er ing About the Author Have you ever wondered… Hugo Award-winning author and Ron Miller Seven Wonders of illustrator Ron Miller specializes in books about science. He has written How engineers create tall skyscrapers? SE EnginEEring The Elements: What You Really Want To v Know and Special Effects: An Introduction How engineers design rockets to tHe Moon? E n In every age, to Movie Magic for Twenty-First wHat nanoMacHines can do? science and W Century Books. His original paintings technology have played an important o can be found in collections all over the These and other engineering wonders are found throughout role in advancing human civilization. n world. Miller lives in Virginia. the world. Read about the science and technology behind From architecture to engineering, d these incredible feats: E communication to transportation, r humans have invented and developed The Channel Tunnel between France and Great Britain S extraordinary wonders. The Empire State Building in New York City o f Engineers take the discoveries of The Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco Front Cover: NASA/JSC (top left); © Sandia E scientists and mathematicians to make National Laboratories/Photo Researchers, Nanomachines developed at Sandia National Lab (New n practical things, from roads and bridges Inc. (top center); © Ron Chapple Studios/ Mexico) and Lawrence Berkeley National Lab (California) g Dreamstime.com (top right); © DENIS The Panama Canal in Panama in to weapons and vehicles. Electronic CHARLET/AFP/Getty Images (center); engineers design and build everything E © iStockphoto.com/Dean Birinyi (bottom The Saturn 5 Rocket launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida E from television sets to computers. r left); © Nevada Wier/The Image Bank/Getty Images (bottom center); Imaginechina via AP Three Gorges Dam in China in Chemical engineers research new uses Images (bottom right). g for plastics and other materials. Other Seven Wonders Read all titles in the seRies: engineers design new energy sources and nonpolluting factories. SEvEn natural WondErS SEvEn WondErS of SEvEn WondErS of of africa anciEnt africa architEcturE In this book, we’ll explore seven SEvEn natural WondErS SEvEn WondErS of SEvEn WondErS of wonders of modern engineering that of thE arctic, antarctica, anciEnt aSia communication and thE ocEanS SEvEn WondErS of anciEnt SEvEn WondErS of allow people to travel beneath the SEvEn natural WondErS of cEntral and South amErica EnginEEring ocean, bring power to entire cities, aSia and thE middlE EaSt SEvEn WondErS of SEvEn WondErS of SEvEn natural WondErS of anciEnt grEEcE Exploration tEchnology and land on the moon. We’ll also see auStralia and ocEania SEvEn WondErS of thE SEvEn WondErS of grEEn engineering wonders that cut though SEvEn natural WondErS of anciEnt middlE EaSt Building tEchnology cEntral and South amErica t a continent and design engines too SEvEn WondErS of anciEnt SEvEn WondErS of W SEvEn natural WondErS north amErica mEdicinE E small to see. Along the way, we’ll see n of EuropE SEvEn WondErS of thE SEvEn WondErS of ty advancements in materials, technology, SEvEn natural WondErS anciEnt World tranSportation -f of north amErica ir and construction techniques, and we’ll S t learn the stories of how and why these c E n engineering feats became important to t tWEnty-firSt cEntury BookS u the world. r A division of Lerner Publishing Group y 241 First Avenue North • Minneapolis, MN 55401 www.lernerbooks.com Printed and bound in U.S.A. ReinfoRced binding Seven Wonders of e ngineering Ron Miller TwenTy-FirsT CenTury Books Minneapolis To Joel Turner Forrest Layne Copyright © 2010 by Ron Miller All rights reserved. International copyright secured. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise—without the prior written permission of Lerner Publishing Group, Inc., except for the inclusion of brief quotations in an acknowledged review. Twenty-First Century Books A division of Lerner Publishing Group, Inc. 241 First Avenue North Minneapolis, MN 55401 U.S.A. Website address: www.lernerbooks.com Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Miller, Ron, 1947– Seven wonders of engineering / by Ron Miller. p. cm. — (Seven wonders) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978–0–7613–4237–3 (lib. bdg. : alk. paper) 1. Civil engineering—Juvenile literature. I. Title. TA149.M55 2010 624—dc22 2009020322 Manufactured in the United States of America 1 – DP – 12/15/09 eISBN: 978-0-7613-5989-0 Contents Introduction —— 4 e s B —— 7 mpire TaTe uilding p C —— 17 anama anal g g B —— 27 olden aTe ridge C T —— 37 hannel unnel s V r —— 45 aTurn oCkeT T g d —— 55 hree orges am n —— 63 anomaChines Timeline —— 70 Choose an Eighth Wonder —— 72 Glossary —— 73 Source Notes —— 74 Selected Bibliography —— 75 Further Reading and Websites —— 76 Index —— 78 i nTroduCTion P eople love to make lists of the biggest and the best. almost twenty-five hundred years ago, a greek writer named herodotus made a list of the most awesome things ever built by people. the list included buildings, statues, and other objects that were large, wondrous, and impressive. later, other writers added new items to the list. writers eventually agreed on a final list. it was called the seven wonders of the ancient world. The list became so famous that people began imitating it. They made other lists of wonders. They listed the Seven Wonders of the Modern World and the Seven Wonders of the Middle Ages. People even made lists of undersea wonders and the wonders of outer space. Almost all the traditional ancient wonders were designed and built by ancient engineers. They employed the best tools, materials, and knowledge of their time to build the most impressive structures imaginable. w i e ? haT s ngineering Engineers take the discoveries of scientists and mathematicians to make practical things. People use these things every day. In ancient times, engineers built everything from roads and bridges to weapons. 4 In modern times, engineers still build roads, bridges, and big buildings. They also build cars, dams, airplanes, spacecraft, and tunnels. There are all kinds of engineers. Electronic engineers design and build everything from television sets to computers. Chemical engineers research new uses for plastics and other materials. Other engineers design new energy sources and nonpolluting factories. Modern engineers use their knowledge of science and materials to build some of the most impressive structures ever seen on Earth—or off Earth. The pages that follow list seven wonders of modern engineering. They are some of the biggest and some of the smallest things humans have ever built. All of them are a combination of science and the need to make things people can use. Welcome to the wonders of engineering. This huge engine is one of five that propelled a Saturn V rocket in 1968. 5 Empire State B uilding The Empire State Building stands tall above other buildings on Manhattan Island in New York City. T all buildings are nothing new. for thousands of years, the great pyramid at giza, egypt, was the tallest structure ever built by humans. it is 481 feet (147 meters) high. later, people built taller churches. one was the 495-foot- tall (151 m) saint mary’s church in stralsund, germany, built in 1625. the washington monument, at 555 feet (169 m), was the tallest structure in the world when it was erected in washington, d.c., in 1884. this record was broken when the eiffel tower in paris, at 1,024 feet (312 m), opened in 1889. for the next forty-one years, it was the tallest building on earth. Engineered site New York City Area State/province border International border NEW JERSEY A Miles D 0 25 50 75 100 A C A N Lake Ontario W Y O 0R KK50ilom1e0te0rs150 ver 34th St5trhe Aevtenue QUEENS N E Ri Empire n State EMPIRE udso Building 0.25M.i5le.s751 N STATE BUILDING H 0 .5 1 Kilometers (New York City) A N I BROOKLYN A PE N N S Y L V NEW JERSEY ATLANTIC OCEAN 7 T i he nVenTion New York’s Flatiron Building, originally called the oF The Fuller Building, opened to businesses in 1902. Skyscraper Until the end of the nineteenth century, walls were made of brick or stone. The walls supported all the weight of the building. The taller a building was, the thicker the walls at its base had to be. If a building was tall, its first floors needed very thick walls. On really tall buildings, there might not be space for any rooms at all. The tallest brick building ever built was Philadelphia City Hall. Completed in 1901, it is 548 feet (167 m) tall. Engineers developed a new way of constructing buildings in the 1880s. They were raised over a steel frame. A steel-framed building is supported by an internal steel framework. This In the late 1920s, people is similar to the way a human body competed to build the tallest building is supported by its skeleton. The in the world. The race took place in building’s walls, which support no New York City. This city was already g weight, can be fairly thin. They can n ri famous for tall buildings, though none e also be made of almost any material, e n as tall as the Eiffel Tower. For instance, i g including glass. A steel frame also n E the Flatiron Building was one of the f allows buildings to be built to almost o first skyscrapers in New York. Built s r de in 1902, it is 285 feet (87 m) tall. any height. The first skyscraper built n Wo Two businessmen, Walter Chrysler, of with a steel frame was erected in n e the Chrysler Corporation, and John 1885 in Chicago. It was 138 feet (42 v e S Raskob, founder of General Motors, m) tall. It is often thought of as the led the race. first true skyscraper. 8