This website was born of the two-volume work, Building the World: An Encyclopedia of the Great Engineering Projects in History, written by Frank P. Davidson and Kathleen Lusk Brooke. After its publication in 2006, Kathleen Lusk Brooke became interested in creating a place where the information could be shared in an interactive and global manner. University of Massachusetts Boston’s Archives and Special Collections was proud to acquire the Building the World research materials, and the project began in early 2012. These materials are now housed in the Healey Library.
This site serves as a forum to invite discussion on the projects presented specifically, as well as the overarching theme of macro-engineering. Additionally this site acts as an introduction to the projects discussed in Building the World and provides supplemental materials and related links. First of all, great honor is due to Dr. Frank P. Davidson, founder of the field of macro-engineering, American co-signer of the Channel Tunnel Accord, and senior author of Building the World. Recognition is also given to Cherie E. Potts and Richard Hantula, integral contributors to the book’s success. Building the World Collection would also like to extend appreciation to Lucien Deschamps, Thierry Gaudin, and Mohammed Bedjaoui, for permission to publish the Frank P. Davidson Lectures, and to Ernst G. Frankel for permission to publish his lecture of 2012. Building the World Collection owes great thanks to the University of Massachusetts Boston’s Healey Library Archives and Special Collections; University Provost, Winston E. Langley; Founding Dean of the McCormack Graduate School of Policy and Global Studies, Stephen P. Crosby; University Archivist, Joanne Riley; University Librarian, Daniel Ortiz; Founding Advisor, Evan T. Litwin; Building the World Collection Research Director and Blog co-creator, Zoe G. Quinn; and Collection Founding Director and Blog co-creator, Kathleen Lusk Brooke.
We invite you to submit your comments, begin your own conversations, and search by chapter. You may wish to consult the Building the World Special Collection research sources. University of Massachusetts Boston’s excellent reference librarians can scan and email a PDF of anything you wish to access. Here is a link to the Building the World Finding Aid: https://blogs.umb.edu/buildingtheworld/files/2012/05/Finding-Aid-2jaypk6.pdf
For more information on the books and their authors please visit:
http://buildingtheworld.com
Building the World Blog by Kathleen Lusk Brooke and Zoe G. Quinn is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
