CONCRETE

An eye-opening survey of this ubiquitous building material’s history and uses.

Continuing the architectural theme of his 2018 tour of a construction site, Builders and Breakers, Light offers informal but usefully detailed portraits of concrete buildings and other structures, from the Pantheon to modern skyscrapers and the Sydney Opera House—lightened by occasional additions like the rabbits (“Whole herds of happy hoppers!”) that lived in the gap between the two Berlin walls and often depicted with a racially diverse cast of inventors, engineers, and general commentators in attendance. Meanwhile, along with explaining concrete’s composition, strengths, and weaknesses, Theule chronicles its appearances through the ages, beginning in Neolithic Göbekli Tepe and in cultures from the ancient Mayans to Chinese Dadiwan, saluting the ancient Romans in particular, highlighting the crucial development of reinforced concrete and of formulations that would set even under water, and closing with the tantalizing suggestion that the wonderfully adaptable stuff has a future as bright as its past. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

Lays down a foundation of basic knowledge as solid as its topic.