Encyclopedia of Architectural and Engineering Feats presents more than 200 achievements in architecture and structural engineering in all the inhabited continents, from prehistory to the present. An architect once described the built environment as "the manifestation of the human spirit in stone, wood, and steel." In this new volume, readers can explore the most innovative and magnificent architectural expressions of the human spirit, from pre-history to the present, from all parts of the world. Readers can visit the Acropolis and Chartres cathedral, along with less familiar places like the ruins of Great Zimbabwe, once the greatest city in sub-Saharan Africa, and China's 71 meter high, 1,200 year old Grand Buddha, carved from stone. They'll learn the secrets behind audacious engineering feats like the Panama Canal, the U.S. interstate highway system, and the Deltaworks in the Netherlands. They will discover that many of these awe-inspiring projects were not the work of trained architects and engineers, but of "underdeveloped" communities, where unified will, tight social organization, and shared commitment to a spiritual ideal were more important than the inventions of the Industrial Age. 200+ A-Z, fully cross-referenced entries on fascinating structures such as Angkor Wat, a Cambodian temple complex that remains the largest religious monument ever constructed A wealth of illustrations covering diverse topics such as dams, agrarian terracing, cathedrals, temples, bridges, monuments, palaces, skyscrapers, aqueducts, and highway systems Numerous photographs of world famous structures such as the Taj Mahal and the Pont du Gard, and lesser known wonders such as Nazca Lines in Peru depicting a 300 foot long monkey A glossary of explanations for many architectural and engineering terms used around the globe