NOW AVAILABLE FROM:

Amazon (US) • No Starch Press • Barnes and Noble • IndieBound • The Book Depository • Amazon (UK) • Waterstones • Amazon (Canada) • Indigo

A limited number of signed copies are available from the Practical Engineering Store.

Each month, millions of people tune in to Practical Engineering to see Grady Hillhouse’s idiosyncratic online video series about infrastructure and the human-made world. Fans of the series send in a constant stream of photographs, all asking Hillhouse the same question: “What is this?” Field guides are available to help readers identify and appreciate just about every part of the natural environment from plants and animals to rocks and minerals, without getting bogged down in unnecessary detail. But, until now, there has never been a field guide to help readers understand and appreciate the less-than-natural parts of our everyday environment.

Engineering in Plain Sight extends the field guide genre from natural phenomena to human-made structures, making them approachable and understandable to non-engineers. It transforms readers’ perspectives of the built environment, converting the act of looking at infrastructure from a mundane inevitability into an everyday diversion and joy. Each section of this accessible, informative book features colorful illustrations revealing the fascinating details of how the human-made world works. An ideal road trip companion, this book offers a fresh perspective on the parts of the environment that often blend into the background. Readers will learn to identify characteristics of the electrical grid, roadways, railways, bridges, tunnels, waterways, and more. Engineering in Plain Sight inspires curiosity, interest, and engagement in how the infrastructure around us is designed and constructed.