I have just completed a course in Understanding the World’s Greatest Structures.  This is a DVD course from “The Great Courses”  and involved 24 half hour lectures studying the development of structures like buildings, stadiums and bridges from Egypt until today.  The development of domes, arches, modern stay supported bridges and many more.

I know, you hear the term lectures and immediately think of boring school, but this course was anything but.  Taught by Dr. Ressler an engineering professor at West Point it is filled with pictures, diagrams, models and computer graphic images to show the inside of historical structures.  Fascinating subjects if you like looking at buildings or unusual bridge designs. 

Dr. Ressler is an interesting and dynamic teacher with enthusiasm for the subject.  I wish I had more teachers like him when I was in school.

Granted you may well think that this is a nerdy subject and I must be weird to enjoy the course and you may be right.  Pat joined me for some segments and found them interesting as well (but not interesting enough to sit through all 12 hours) 

The course covered breakthrough technologies in building and bridge design over history with lots of examples of failures to demonstrate where the Engineering was not well done.  There was very little math or equations just enough for the basic understanding of how tension and compression must be balanced in all structures.  More of a first year  introduction to civil engineering than an actual engineering course.

I expect I am the only one that would love this course but if any of my family or friends would like to watch it, I will lend it to them.