"Traces the history of modern building engineering in the Western world from ancient times to the present, bringing to life the key people, buildings, and concepts that have influenced engineering and architecture over the millennia. This ... volume documents the classic texts, instruments, materials, and theories that have propelled modern engineering, and the famous and not-so-famous buildings that have resulted through the ages, from the Parthenon to Chartres Cathedral and the dome of St. Peter's, from eighteenth-century silk and cotton mills in England to the Crystal Palace, and from the first Chicago high-rises to the Sydney Opera House and the 'green' skyscrapers of today"--Front cover flap.