Science and the City

There is an incredible amount of hidden science behind urban life, secretly working to keep things moving. Science and the City looks at this in detail, on a journey of discovery around the great cities of the world, both now and into the future. Technological advances in fields as diverse as quantum mechanics, ergonomics and thermodynamics are proving increasingly important in city life, and the urban world will turn to science to deliver solutions to the problems of the future - 50% of the world's population now lives in cities, and that proportion is growing fast. Can technology provide the answer to a viable megacity future? Science and the City starts at your front door, and guides you through the technology of everyday city life - how new approaches to materials help to build the tallest skyscrapers in Dubai, how New Yorkers use light to treat their drinking water, how Tokyo commuters' footsteps power gates in train stations - and looks at the technology that will help us solve future problems as the world's population soars to eight billion, ten billion, twenty billion - the need for ever-higher skyscrapers, or the demand for power, water and internet access, or indeed how to simply get about in a megacity of tens of millions of people. Written in an enjoyable and informal style, Science and the City is built on solid foundations of science fact, with a decent sprinkling of speculation on top.