Things We Make
by Bill Hammack · first published 2023
4mentions
1recommended by
3HN commenters
2023–2025first – last mentioned
33% recommend67% neutral
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The Things We Make by Bill Hammack Changed my way of understanding what engineering is. Read the chaoter on designing cathedrals without math, science or modelling.
on “Ask HN: Good books on philosophy of engineering?” ↗The Things We Make by Bill Hammack
on “Ask HN: Good books on philosophy of engineering?” ↗Just yesterday I started watching the video series promoting Bill Hammack's book "The Things We Make" in which he discusses how many incredible ancient structures were built using rules of thumb rather than an actual understanding of the science /math underpinning their strength. Truly fascinating. https://youtu.be/_ivqWN4L3zU
on “The Sourdough Framework” ↗It was often neither intuition nor improvisation, but rules. Bill Hammack's "The Things We Make" goes into a number of examples. For a slightly more modern example, take European Gothic Cathedrals. People weren't guessing, they weren't improvising, and they weren't relying on intuition - if they…
on “Historic Engineering Wonders: Photos That Reveal How They Pulled It Off” ↗