Of Stones And Man from the Pharaohs to the Present Day From the Pharaohs to the Present Day

Arrogance and a penchant for excess have driven mankind to build ever greater and more ambitious edifices. The author analyzes these works from a scientific and historically-sensitive perspective, highlighting the hydro-geological background to infamous disasters; from the faults inherent in the Sphinx to the leaning Tower of Pisa. Of Stones and Man is the final work of Jean Kerisel (1908-2005) who served as President of the International Society for Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering from 1973 to 1977, and who worked as a consultant on many ambitious engineering projects across the world.Beautifully illustrated throughout, this book is a testament to the impermanence of our surroundings. It questions how the earth and its resources have borne the cumulative burden placed upon it over the ages by one civilization after another, and how, in turn, the earth has exacted its inevitable revenge on the great constructions of our ancestors.Kerisel, Jean is the author of 'Of Stones And Man from the Pharaohs to the Present Day From the Pharaohs to the Present Day' with ISBN 9780415364416 and ISBN 0415364418.