Nuts and Bolts

Shard engineer Roma Agrawal deconstructs our most complex inventions into seven fundamental objects: the nail, spring, wheel, lens, magnet, string and pump.

'Delightful' TIM HARFORD, FINANCIAL TIMES

'Appeals to the nerdy side of just about all of us... a great book to give' JANE GARVEY

'Splendid. Clearly written, elegantly structured full of facts you are unlikely to chance on anywhere else' DAILY MAIL

*SHORTLISTED FOR THE ROYAL SOCIETY SCIENCE BOOK PRIZE * A TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR*

Smartphones, skyscrapers, spacecraft. Modern technology seems mind-bogglingly complex. But beneath the surface, it can be beautifully simple.

Tracing their journeys through the millennia, she shows us how handmade Roman nails led to modern skyscrapers, how the potter's wheel enabled space exploration, and how humble lenses helped her conceive a child against the odds. Eye-opening and engaging, Nuts and Bolts reveals the hidden building blocks of our modern world, and shows how engineering has fundamentally changed the way we live.

'So calm and clear and deep, I wished it would flow on forever.' — Helen Garner

'Rarely have I been so moved, reading a book: I love the quiet beauty of Cold Enough for Snow and how, within its calm simplicity, Jessica Au camouflages incredible power.' — Edouard Louis

'Put simply, this novel is an intricate and multi-layered work of art — a complex and profound meditation on identity, familial bonds and our inability to fully understand ourselves, those we love and the world around us.' — Jacqui Davies, Books+Publishing