這是一本非常有趣的建築科普讀物。它從最簡單的帳篷搭設到摩天大樓的建造，把各種形態的建築原理、結構力學以及構件材料的選用，講得清清楚楚。最為生動的是，全書附有大量示意圖，指導讀者用手工實驗的方式來理解結構原理，做實驗的材料多是唾手可得的生活用品或廢物。這就把及其復雜、奧妙的建築原理化為人人可知的常識瞭，對製作其它器皿或工藝作品也有參考價值，能極大地豐富人們的結構想象。

——原書書目頁簡介

Mario G. Salvadori (March 19, 1907 – June 25, 1997)[1] was a structural engineer and professor of both civil engineering and architecture at Columbia University.

Salvadori was born in Rome, Italy in 1907. His father, an engineer who worked for the telephone company, became the chief engineer of the city of Genoa when the phone company merged with their French counterpart. Salvadori's father later became the head of the gas and electric company in Spain. As a consequence, Salvadori spent many years of his youth in Madrid and only returned to Italy in 1923. Two years later, when he was 18, he started what the first student jazz band in Italy; one of his youthful dreams was to become a concert conductor, although his parents did not encourage this.

He earned doctoral degrees in both civil engineering and mathematics from the University of Rome in 1930 and 1933 respectively. The next two years he did graduate research in photoelasticity at University College London. Subsequently, he returned to Rome, where he served as an instructor at the University of Rome. Salvadori was an outspoken critic of the regime of Benito Mussolini,[1] and he subsequently left Italy in 1938 or 1939[1] for New York at the recommendation of his teacher and friend, Enrico Fermi.

……

（以上摘自維基百科，未為盡舉。但我們已經知道，這位結構界的大牛，生活從來鮮明：父親是意大利電氣公司派駐在西班牙的分部老大；他少年時代在西班牙讀過，大學時代成立瞭意大利的第一個爵士樂隊；當時的理想是做個指揮傢…… 後來去美留學，是齣自他的良師益友的建議：他就是費米。）