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When the book arrived I discovered links with some of my other travel
destinations - the Colosseum, the Pantheon, Pompeii
and the Sydney Opera House. The book looked like
living up to its promise as a thematic travel guide.
But as I read the book, my hopes were definitely not setting as quickly as Portland Cement
poured on to a footpath
I soon realised that the component of the title referring to the "7000 Year
History" of concrete, was controversial, since it assumes the correctness of a
central thesis of Reese Palley's book.
He did not develop the theory that some stone blocks at the Giza site were
the result of a poured geopolymeric substance that became a man-made version of
rock. But the "Pyramid Controversy" as the Portland Cement Association in Illinois calls
it, is certainly promoted by Palley.
His thesis is based on the process by which matter is agglomerated, broken
down and re-agglomerated, whether by human or natural forces. He believes that the composition of some of the blocks
of the Giza Pyramids is consistent with re-agglomeration of a originally
previously agglomerated substance.
I've floated his thesis past a chemical engineer and a physicist. Both are
more persuaded by the more mainstream view that the blocks were floated on boats
travelling along The Nile.
If Palley is wrong, this reduces the book's title to a large overstatement.
Without the pyramids it becomes "Concrete: A 3000 Year History" Not quite
such an impressive history. Unless of course you consider his other claim that
the first evidence is a primitive shelter dated 5600 BCE and found in
present-day Yugoslavia. Alas, this claim is not substantiated in his book.
Despite its photograph on the front cover, there is not even an index entry
to the Millau Viaduct in the book. And yet, when I visited it, I saw a
stunning engineering feat-of-a-bridge. It is the tallest in the world, very
elegant, and used vast amounts of concrete - 85,000 cubic metres of concrete
weighing 206,000 tonnes. Surely worthy of a mention in a book like this.
Another World Heritage listed engineering wonder from the 1600s, the Canal du Midi is also omitted, even
though it revived many "lost" construction techniques from the Roman era,
including the use of cementitious substances.
And yet Reese Palley puts great store on the periods of history in which
concrete-making techniques were lost and later revived. He devotes a chapter to
Roman use of concrete and the apparent disappearance of the techniques, but
never draws the link between Roman times and the Canal du Midi.
The second part of the book, becomes more and more America-centric as he
introduces Edison, American Art in concrete, and American construction.
The book progresses from the past to the future and from earth into space,
explaining concrete in its different forms and applications.
I do like the book. It's well designed layout makes reading it a pleasure
and, within a social and economic context, there is some interesting
writing.
And it's been a conversation starter for me with its controversial claims.
But my hopes that this book could become the travel guide for my future
adventures, have somewhat disintegrated, like a concrete block under too much
pressure.
But do read it. If you're ever lost for words, it will give you something
concrete to talk about.
Published by The Quantuck Lane Press. New York. 2010.
ISBN-978-1-59372-039-1
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