Books with author David Macaulay

David Macaulay, co-creator of the international bestseller The Way Things Work, brings his signature curiosity and detailing to the story of the steamship in this meticulously researched and stunningly illustrated book.Prior to the 1800s, ships crossing the Atlantic Ocean relied on the wind in their sails to make their journeys. But invention of steam power ushered in a new era of transportation that would change ocean travel forever: the steamship. Award-winning author-illustrator David Macaulay guides readers through the fascinating history that culminated in the building of the most advanced―and last―of these steamships: the SS United States. This book artfully explores the design and construction of the ship and the life of its designer and engineer, William Francis Gibbs.Framed around the author's own experience steaming across the Atlantic on the very same SS United States, Crossing on Time is a tour de force of the art of explanation and a touching and surprising childhood story.A 2020 NCTE Orbis Pictus Recommended Book2020 Bank Street College of Education Best Children's Books of the Year List

Readers worldwide recognize Caldecott Medal winner David Macaulay's imaginary Cathedral of Chutreaux. This critically acclaimed book has been translated into a dozen languages and remains a classic of children's literature and a touchstone for budding architects. Cathedral's numerous awards include a prestigious Caldecott Honor and designation as a New York Times Best Illustrated Book of the Year for Macaulay's intricate pen-and-ink illustrations.Journey back to centuries long ago and visit the fictional people of twelfth-, thirteenth-, and fourteenth-century Europe whose dreams, like Cathedral, stand the test of time.This title has been selected as a Common Core text exemplar (Grades 6 – 8, Informational Texts: Science, Mathematics, and Technical Studies).

It is the year 4022; all of the ancient country of Usa has been buried under many feet of detritus from a catastrophe that occurred back in 1985. Imagine, then, the excitement that Howard Carson, an amateur archeologist at best, experienced when in crossing the perimeter of an abandoned excavation site he felt the ground give way beneath him and found himself at the bottom of a shaft, which, judging from the DO NOT DISTURB sign hanging from an archaic doorknob, was clearly the entrance to a still-sealed burial chamber. Carson's incredible discoveries, including the remains of two bodies, one of then on a ceremonial bed facing an altar that appeared to be a means of communicating with the Gods and the other lying in a porcelain sarcophagus in the Inner Chamber, permitted him to piece together the whole fabric of that extraordinary civilization.

An author and artist who has continually stripped away the mystique of architectural structures that have long fascinated modern people, David Macaulay here reveals the methods and materials used to design and construct a mosque in late-sixteenth- century Turkey. Through the fictional story and Macaulay’s distinctive full-color illustrations, readers will learn not only how such monumental structures were built but also how they functioned in relation to the society they served. As always, Macaulay has given a great deal of attention to the relationship between pictures and text, creating another brilliant celebration of an architectural wonder.

The Caldecott Medal-winning author and illustrator takes young readers through the building of an imaginary city in Ancient Rome. In City, David Macaulay introduces readers to the fascinating world of Ancient Roman architecture and engineering, combining straightforward text and black and white illustrations to tell the story of a city’s creation. While the Roman city of Verbonia is imaginary, its planning and construction are based on those of the hundreds of Roman cities founded between 300 B.C. and 150 A.D. From the process of selecting the ideal site on which to build, Macaulay moves through each phase of the process. “Engineering, architectural and human details enliven a tour of the completed city—the water supply and drainage system, the forum and central market, the homes of a merchant and a craftsman, the theatre, the public baths” and much more are intricately imagined, illustrated, and explained (Kirkus).

This illustrated book gives young readers “a breathtaking and entirely original insight” into the complex systems that exist underneath modern cities (Kirkus, starred review). Caldecott Medal-winning author and illustrator David Macaulay takes readers on a visual journey through a city's various support systems—the many tunnels, pipes, walls, and other structures that help sustain the bustling life above. In Underground, Macaulay exposes a typical section of this intricate underground network and explains how it works. Along with his beautiful illustrations, Macaulay presents “a straightforward yet fascinating description of the labyrinth beneath the feet of any city dweller. And what a complex covered world [he] reveals! He invents an intersection of two streets and proceeds to show what we all might find if we dared to descend through that Alice-in-Wonderland manhole" (The New York Times).

A pigeon carrying an important message takes the reader on a unique tour through Rome. As we follow the path of this somewhat wayward bird, we discover that Rome is a place where past and present live side by side. It is a city that has been recycling itself for two thousand years, but unlike a museum, Rome displays its remarkable history without respect for chronology. A new electric bus travels over cobblestone streets just ten feet above the floor of an ancient stadium. Inscriptions from tombs and temples share wall space with neon. Every time a corner is turned there is a surprise, just as every turn of the page brings a new perspective. This juxtaposition of ancient and modern, as seen with David Macaulay's ingenious vision, gives the reader an imaginative and informative journey through this wondrous city.

Why this shape and not that? Why steel instead of concrete or stone? Why put it here and not over there? These are the kinds of questions that David Macaulay asks himself when he observes an architectural wonder. These questions take him back to the basic process of design from which all structures begin, from the realization of a need for the structure to the struggles of the engineers and designers to map out and create the final construction.As only he can, David Macaulay engages readers’ imaginations and gets them thinking about structures they see and use every day — bridges, tunnels, skyscrapers, domes, and dams. In Building Big he focuses on the connections between the planning and design problems and the solutions that are finally reached. Whether a structure is imposing or inspiring, he shows us that common sense and logic play just as important a part in architecture as imagination and technology do. As always, Macaulay inspires readers of all ages to look at their world in a new way.

“The mystery of the pyramids is solved before our eyes” in this illustrated YA guide to their construction by the Caldecott Medal-winning author (Kirkus). In Pyramid, acclaimed author and illustrator David Macaulay explores the construction of ancient Egyptian pyramids from the initial planning stages to the methods used to lift stones up to the structure’s highest level. Through concise text and richly detailed black and white illustrations your readers are introduced not only to ancient Egyptian engineering, tools, and labor practices, but also the philosophy of life, death, and afterlife that made these awe-inspiring monuments necessary as a pharaoh’s final resting place. "Macaulay's brilliant Pyramid shows, detail by detail, how the great pharaohs' burial places were conceived and constructed… His draftsmanship is unexcelled, and his book is pharaonic in opulence and design."—Time