John Steele Gordon

Of late I have really enjoyed reading the stories behind various monumental construction and engineering feats that today we often take for granted. Feats like the building of the Brooklyn Bridge, the digging of the Panama Canal, and the planning and construction of the Hoover Dam all make not only fascinating tales of technology and design in action but also give credit (and sometimes blame) to the remarkable people who not only dream these massive undertakings but then find ways to attempt and actually complete them.
John Gordon's A Thread Across the Ocean is a compelling read for its treatment of the daunting technological challenges of laying a telegraph cable across the Atlantic Ocean as well as vivid descriptions of the courage and tenacity of those who never gave up trying until the project was complete. I am amazed to read about individuals who had such courage of their convictions that they continued to work doggedly through so many problems and set backs with a determination that is truly inspiring.
If you ever think a problem is too big to handle, just imagine being out in the middle of the ocean, dragging a thousand miles of cable behind you with hundreds of thousands of dollars invested in your project. only to watch helplessly while your cable ignominiously snaps and disappears into thousands of feet of water. And with no other choice than to turn around, head back to land, build new cable. and start all over again, that's what these stubborn fellows did. . .more than once!
After reading of this amazing project and the tenacity of those who saw it through to completion, I will never let my little challenges stop me.
This is truly an inspiring story of invention, determination, and the potentially spectacular results of dreaming large. I recommend it highly.… (more)

An enjoyable if slight history that I checked out of the library mostly because I thought it was clever that the book's tall, narrow shape echoed its subject matter. The details behind the building of the Washington Monument were fun though the author had to delve pretty deep into the trivial to fill out those sections of the book. The chapters about the history of Egyptian obelisks and their relocation to European and American cities actually were fascinating as the subtitle claims, but I was disappointed that the author sidestepped a full examination of the ongoing political and cultural issues of this looting of national treasures to concentrate instead on the mechanics of lifting and shipping large rocks.… (more)