Engineering in Plain Sight (2022)

Civil engineer Grady Hillhouse's 2022 field guide to the infrastructure most people walk past without seeing. Its eight chapters cover the power grid, communications, roads, bridges and tunnels, railways, dams and levees, water and wastewater, and construction, with each feature drawn clearly and explained in a short, plain entry. Read it once and a walk down any street turns into a game of spotting what you pass and knowing what it does. It is the most practical book on this list for an adult, and an easy one to share with a curious older child on a road trip.