The Works
A fascinating guided tour of the ways things work in a modern city “It's a rare person who won't find something of interest in The Works, whether it's an explanation of how a street-sweeper works or the view of what's down a manhole.” —New York Post Have you ever wondered how the water in your faucet gets there? Where your garbage goes? What the pipes under city streets do? How bananas from Ecuador get to your local market? Why radiators in apartment buildings clang? Using New York City as its point of reference, The Works takes readers down manholes and behind the scenes to explain exactly how an urban infrastructure operates. Deftly weaving text and graphics, author Kate Ascher explores the systems that manage water, traffic, sewage and garbage, subways, electricity, mail, and much more. Full of fascinating facts and anecdotes, The Works gives readers a unique glimpse at what lies behind and beneath urban life in the twenty-first century.
Stats for nerds
7recommend
9mentions
9people
2009–2017years
78% recommend22% neutral
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
- if you like this, you may find this book interesting:
The Works: Anatomy of a City.
my GF got it for her post grad architecture degree and i found it really well illustrated and interesting! For example it outlines the steam grid in NYC and current vs historic uses
https://www.amazon.com/Works-Anatomy-City-Kate-Ascher/dp/014...
- For more infrastructure of NYC:
"The Works: Anatomy of a City" by Kate Ascher
I was a bit disappointed that it is so focussed on NYC, but it is nevertgheless a fantastic book with lots and lots of illustrations.
Also "Underground" by David Macauley.
- > This is actually one of the most fascinating aspects of modern society to me. I can't resist opportunities to tour local infrastructure.
Two of my favorite books:
The Works: Anatomy of a City https://www.amazon.com/Works-Anatomy-City-Kate-Ascher/dp/159...
What Do People Do All Day https://www.amazon.com/Richard-Scarrys-What-People-World/dp/...
- I highly recommend Kate Ascher's "The Works: The Anatomy of a City" if you are fascinated by underground and other workings.
https://www.amazon.com/Works-Anatomy-City-Kate-Ascher/dp/014...
- On a similar note, about NYC infrastructure design (not just data connectivity), I highly recommend Kate Ascher's "The Works: Anatomy of a city".
http://www.amazon.com/The-Works-Anatomy-Kate-Ascher/dp/01431...
- If you like this, you'll love Kate Ascher's The Works: Anatomy of a City (http://www.amazon.com/The-Works-Anatomy-Kate-Ascher/dp/01431...). It's slightly out of date (but much more up to date than the OP!).
And if you like that, you'll REALLY love Brian Hayes' Infrastructure: A Field Guide to the Industrial Landscape (http://www.amazon.com/Infrastructure-Field-Guide-Industrial-...). It's porn for people who like to try to figure out what the random towers in a chemical plant do, or how the electrical station you just passed on the interstate works.
