Nuts and Bolts

How Tiny Inventions Make Our World Work

Roma Agrawal

$55

Hardback

Not in-store but you can order this
How long will it take?

Availability Information

We source books from suppliers in Australia and overseas. For books we don't currently have in stock, the time it takes to get them from our suppliers can vary widely - from a few days to a few months - so we check each book with each supplier to determine the expected time it will take to be supplied to us.

We then advise you accordingly. If the time taken to get any book is too long for you, you can let us know and we will cancel or adjust your order, and refund as required.

To find out the anticipated arrival time for specific items prior to ordering, please contact us by phone or email:

Phone +61 2 9264 3111, or 1800 4 BOOKS (1800 4 26657) if outside Sydney:
option 1 Abbey's Bookshop (Crime, History, Science, Kids & more) • info@abbeys.com.au
option 2 Language Book Centre (ESL & Foreign Languages) • language@abbeys.com.au
option 3 Galaxy Bookshop (Sci-fi, Fantasy, Romance, Graphic Novels) • sf@galaxybooks.com.au

QTY:

English

Hodder & Stoughton
12 July 2023

General & world history; History: earliest times to present day; Mathematics & Sciences; Engineering: general; History of engineering & technology; Inventions & inventors

*SHORTLISTED FOR THE ROYAL SOCIETY SCIENCE BOOK PRIZE 2023
*
*AS HEARD ON RADIO 4 START THE WEEK, OFF AIR WITH FI AND JANE AND 99% INVISIBLE
*

'Delightful' TIM HARFORD, FINANCIAL TIMES

'Appeals to the nerdy side of just about all of us... a great book to give' JANE GARVEY

'A splendid book: clearly written, elegantly structured and full of facts you are unlikely to chance on anywhere else' DAILY MAIL

Smartphones, skyscrapers, spacecraft. Modern technology seems mind-bogglingly complex. But beneath the surface, it can be beautifully simple.

In Nuts and Bolts, award-winning Shard engineer and broadcaster Roma Agrawal deconstructs our most complex feats of engineering into seven fundamental inventions: the nail, spring, wheel, lens, magnet, string and pump. Each of these objects is itself a wonder of design, the result of many iterations and refinements. Together, they have enabled humanity to see the invisible, build the spectacular, communicate across vast distances, and even escape our planet.

Tracing the surprising journeys of each invention through the millennia, Roma reveals how handmade Roman nails led to modern skyscrapers, how the potter's wheel enabled space exploration, and how humble lenses helped her conceive a child against the odds.

She invites us to marvel at these small but perfectly formed inventions, sharing the stories of the remarkable, and often unknown, scientists and engineers who made them possible. The nuts and bolts that make up our world may be tiny, and are often hidden, but they've changed our lives in dramatic ways.

'A wonderful book' MARK MIODOWNIK

'A masterclass in storytelling' JESS WADE

'A riveting love letter to the small, wonderful, and mundane things that make the modern world.' ROMAN MARS

By: Roma Agrawal
Imprint: Hodder & Stoughton
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 236mm, Width: 162mm, Spine: 32mm
Weight: 530g
ISBN: 9781529340075
ISBN 10: 1529340071
Pages: 320
Publication Date: 12 July 2023
Audience: College/higher education , Professional and scholarly , General/trade , Primary , Undergraduate
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

Roma Agrawal is an engineer, author and presenter who is best known for working on the design of The Shard, Western Europe's tallest tower. She studied engineering at Imperial College London and physics at the University of Oxford. Roma has given talks to thousands at universities, schools and organisations around the world, including TEDx. She has also presented numerous TV shows for the BBC, Channel 4 and Discovery, and hosts her own podcast, Building Stories. Her first book, BUILT (2018) won an AAAS science book award and has been translated into eight languages. Roma is passionate about promoting engineering and technical careers to young people, particularly those from minoritized groups, and has won international awards for her technical prowess and for her advocacy for the profession, including the prestigious Royal Academy of Engineering's Rooke Award. She was appointed an MBE in 2018 for services to engineering.

Reviews for Nuts and Bolts: How Tiny Inventions Make Our World Work

'A wonderful book. A fascinating tour that brings to life the springs, ratchets and fibres that makes up the machines of our modern age' -- Mark Miodownik There is passion for engineering on every single page. Roma Agrawal has a special skill of reawakening that part of us that simply wants to understand how the built world works, and to dream of creating our own machines. -- Angela Saini A masterclass in storytelling. Agrawal is the perfect narrator: her curiosity, technical knowledge and excitement fill every page. -- Jess Wade Inside this wonderfully engaging book is a profound message: that so much of technology comes from ingenious reiterations of just a few innovations in engineering... Roma Agrawal brings these inventions vividly to life. -- Philip Ball Essential reading for budding engineers, young and old. -- Anna Ploszajski Fascinating stories behind the humble devices that make our human world work, told with an engineer's infectious excitement and enthusiasm for detail. -- Gaia Vince