BUY BOOK

March 23rd | 6pm CST

The Things We Make | Bill Hammack

ABOUT THE BOOK

For millennia, humans have used one simple method to solve problems. Whether it’s planting crops, building skyscrapers, developing photographs, or designing the first microchip, all creators follow the same steps to engineer progress. But this powerful method, the “engineering method”, is an all but hidden process that few of us have heard of—let alone understand—but that influences every aspect of our lives.

Bill Hammack, a Carl Sagan award-winning professor of engineering and viral “The Engineer Guy” on Youtube, has a lifelong passion for the things we make, and how we make them. Now, for the first time, he reveals the invisible method behind every invention and takes us on a whirlwind tour of how humans built the world we know today. From the grand stone arches of medieval cathedrals to the mundane modern soda can, Hammack explains the golden rule of thumb that underlies every new building technique, every technological advancement, and every creative solution that leads us one step closer to a better, more functional world. Spanning centuries and cultures, Hammack offers a fascinating perspective on how humans engineer solutions in a world full of problems. A book unlike any other, The Things We Make is a captivating examination of the method that keeps pushing humanity forward, a spotlight on the achievements of the past, and a celebration of the potential of our future that will change the way we see the world around us.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Bill Hammack Ph.D. hosts the Engineer Guy YouTube channel, which has over a million subscribers. Make magazine said of Hammack’s video work that he was a “brilliant science-and-technology documentarian” whose “videos should be held up as models of how to present complex technical information visually.” Wired called them “dazzling.”

He teaches engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he focuses on educating the public about engineering and science. Hammack’s work has been recognized by a broad range of engineering and scientific societies, and he has received the Hoover Medal, awarded jointly by five engineering societies, the Public Service Award from the National Science Board, and the Ralph Coats Roe Medal from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. He has also won the trifecta of top science and engineering journalism awards: the National Association of Science Writer’s Science in Society Award, the American Chemical Society’s Grady Stack Medal, and the Science Writing Award from the American Institute of Physics.