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This new addition to the manuals series of the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) is a mighty work in every way: it occupies more than 900 pages in two large volumes, and it aims to cover a comprehensive range of the many and varied materials used in construction. ICE members, plus many others practising within the construction industry and students, will doubtless be attracted by its encyclopaedic scope and sheer gravitas. However, the challenge for any all-embracing manual of this type is in avoiding individual topics falling inadequately between an over-simplified introduction and a detailed state-of-the-art treatment. Potential readers and users of this new manual will need to know how well this challenge has been met and whether or not the review for each material provides a helpful, authoritative briefing that will act as a secure foundation from which further enquiry can be launched when necessary.

Anyone who has ever edited a book written by even a small group of distinguished engineers or scientists will know that this is a difficult task; encouraging your contributing authors to prepare their material to a consistent target style and within a sensible timetable has been likened to herding cats. In this case, the achievement is thus truly awesome, because the general editor, Mike Forde, who heads the research institute for infrastructure and environment at the University of Edinburgh, has successfully managed more than 70 authors, assisted by 11 dedicated section editors. The end result is truly impressive, because the manual is well structured, with a continuous and easy-to-use format that is furnished with typically accessible technical text and plenty of good-quality illustrations.

The 75 chapters and two appendices are grouped into two separate volumes (available as a set and also on-line). Volume I includes the fundamentals and theory section, plus sections on concrete, asphalts and masonry. Volume II basically includes everything else, such as metals, polymers, polymer fibre composites, timber, glass and ‘non-conventional’ materials (for example, ‘earth’, straw, architectural fabrics and many others), plus the two appendices (fire performance and recycled content). Commendably, each volume contains a full and effective index to both volumes.

Overall these are impressive books that do much credit to their editors and authors and will be welcome additions to many working bookshelves. Does the manual provide the required sound briefings on materials, with leads for finding more detailed up-to-date information? Generally the answer is a resounding ‘yes’, although inevitably there are variations and some omissions. Many readers will also appreciate the endeavour to address important current issues, including sustainability and recycling. In summary, Professor Forde and his team should be congratulated on this tour de force and readers should lose no time in securing their copies.

First published in 1996, the fourth edition of The green guide to specification has been revised and updated to provide designers and specifiers with easy-to-use guidance on making the best environmental choices when selecting construction materials and components. It is more comprehensive than its predecessors and contains more than 1200 specifications used in six generic building types: commercial, educational, healthcare, retail, residential and industrial.

This outstanding guide, which has been internationally peer-reviewed, provides robust information to assist decision-making by translating numerical life-cycle assessment data into a simple A+ to E scale of environmental ratings, enabling designers to make meaningful comparisons between materials and components. The performance of each specification is measured against a range of 13 internationally recognised environmental impacts, which include climate change, water and mineral resource extraction, stratospheric ozone depletion, exotoxicity to freshwater and to land, waste disposal, high-level nuclear waste, fossil fuel depletion, eutrophication, photochemical ozone creation, and acidification.

The guide is intended for use with whole-building assessment tools such as the BRE environmental assessment method, the Code for Sustainable Homes and EcoHomes, rather than as a stand-alone tool. It is regularly updated online and new materials and components are added.

This exciting initiative should be pursued at European level with the aim of establishing a standard procedure for life-cycle assessment of construction materials and ultimately become part of an EU directive.

This is a very approachable and inspiring book about systems thinking. Systems thinking encourages us to think in broader terms – recognising the interconnections and dynamic nature of the world in which we live and the engineering systems we place in it. At a time when the world is increasingly inter-connected and more rapidly changing than ever before, and engineers and policy makers are being challenged to respond sustainably, the need for systems thinking is greater than ever.

Donella Meadows was a pioneer of systems thinking and sustainability science – she was lead author of the 1972 The limits to growth study. She died in 2001, leaving editor Diana Wright to publish her manuscript this year.

This book should be of interest to all engineers. It does not give all the answers, but provides the motivation and guidance to encourage us to view civil engineering and the management of our built environment in its wider context. Even those already familiar with the concepts of systems thinking will gain something from reading this book because Meadows' insights are well communicated, supported by relevant examples, and reflect her many years of expertise in systems analysis.

The author's final word is to recognise that while systems thinking is a powerful tool to aid in our understanding of the world, it does not enable us to impose total control over the world. Systems thinking helps us identify how to work together – or ‘dance’, to use Meadows' word – with the world to achieve our aims.

Roads are not just the creations of engineers, owned by highways authorities, but belong to a wider public and a wider culture. On roads addresses the half-hidden, half-forgotten cultural history of British roads in the age of mass motor travel. The focus is mostly on England, with particular attention given to motorways.

The book is packed with interesting facts and insights: the use of pulped books in road construction; the connection between Michelin and the UK's road numbers; and how motorway service stations gained their poor gastronomic reputation (because for once food critics found themselves reporting on plebeian fare). With an eye for historical detail, Moran pinpoints the provenance of familiar terms such as Spaghetti Junction, juggernaut, tree-hugger and road rage.

On roads may be a popular history, but it is not a popularisation of road engineering. While some technical aspects of roads are touched on, explaining engineering to the public is not the book's prerogative. Fair enough; but there is a downside to the populism: the disproportionate space given to a few attention-grabbing polemicists or fictional narratives relative to the weight of evidence-based professional opinion or the voices of ordinary road users. While rightly criticising some failings of the road-building industry, Moran seems needlessly dismissive of the engineers' ‘science and statistics’, without which those iconic modern highways would not exist.

Overall, On roads is an engaging traverse of the territory, even if the journey has not necessarily brought us far from where we started. But what is perhaps most valuable (for engineers, at least) is the fresh, broad perspective offered: inviting us to walk this ‘road country’ in others' shoes.

Anyone getting into earthquake engineering quickly realises that ‘one can drown in the sea of information available and still starve for knowledge’. So, is this book yet another publication on the subject? The answer is a resounding ‘no’.

Fundamentals of earthquake engineering explains the concepts of geotechnical and structural earthquake engineering via a multitude of media, making it suited to a wide audience – students, academics, researchers and practising engineers with limited or no experience in earthquake engineering.

The book includes material on the nature of earthquake sources and mechanisms, characterisation of earthquake input motion, damage observed, and modelling of structural systems for optimal seismic response. The structure is original too as it is divided into four chapters, with two on ‘demand’ – earthquake characteristics and earthquake input motion – and two on ‘supply’ – response of structures and response evaluation.

The book stops where the codes start. This, in my opinion, is a good thing. A thorough understanding of concepts in structural engineering and, more so, earthquake engineering should be a prerequisite to using codes which, after all, are different around the world. The reader should be able after carefully studying this book not only to use regional seismic codes with ease but also to appreciate the background of code provisions.

I thoroughly recommend Fundamentals of earthquake engineering to practitioners, academics and students interested in conceptual seismic design of structures.