The Book of Massively Epic Engineering Disasters

This is a really well researched and beautifully illustrated book aimed at middle readers.  Important engineering concepts such as stability, center of mass, movement, potential energy, load bearing and materials use, among others, are defined and illustrated through experiments.  Each of the experiments is used to explain engineering disasters from the ancient world up to the modern day.

The chapters are broken up into digestible sidebars and short texts which are full of interesting trivia.  The book could have been very dry and, dare I say, boring.  It's emphatically not boring.  I really enjoyed reading the history and the whys-and-wherefores of the science behind the scenes.

STEM (science technology engineering and math) education is so vitally important to problem solving and progress as well as safeguarding our limited resources.  Getting young people interested with accessible and fun learning materials is a huge positive part of the equation.

This book would a welcome addition to a classroom unit on engineering or natural science as well as a good starting point for a multitude of science fair projects or a homeschooling unit.

It's a solid book, 256 pages, and very useful and interesting for budding engineers. 

Five stars
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher.