≡ Libro Free A Thing in Disguise The Visionary Life of Joseph Paxton Kate Colquhoun 9780007143535 Books

A Thing in Disguise The Visionary Life of Joseph Paxton Kate Colquhoun 9780007143535 Books

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A Thing in Disguise The Visionary Life of Joseph Paxton Kate Colquhoun 9780007143535 Books

I have read this book many times and was glad to get a Kindle copy of it as I have misplaced the book.
It is a fascinating story of how a gardener without any formal education ended up building the Crystal Palace and the techniques required to do so. It also tells of the other advancements being made at that time (1800's) that shows how much was achieved by the Victorians.


Tags : A Thing in Disguise: The Visionary Life of Joseph Paxton [Kate Colquhoun] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. This is a biography of Joseph Paxton, horticulturist to the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire, architect of the Crystal Palace at the Great Exhibition of 1851 and a great unsung hero of the Victorian Age. In the 19th century,Kate Colquhoun,A Thing in Disguise: The Visionary Life of Joseph Paxton,Fourth Estate Ltd,0007143532,Gardeners - England - Biography,Landscape architects - England - Biography,Landscape gardening - England - History - 19th century,19th century, c 1800 to c 1899,ARCHITECTURE Individual Architects & Firms General,Biography & Autobiography General,Biography: Historical, Political & Military,GARDENING Garden Design,Garden design & planning,Individual architects & architectural firms,United Kingdom, Great Britain,c 1800 to c 1900,Architecture

A Thing in Disguise The Visionary Life of Joseph Paxton Kate Colquhoun 9780007143535 Books Reviews

This book follows the career of Joseph Paxton from head gardener at Chatsworth to his design for the Crystal Palace to hold the Great Exhibition in London, and the later reconstruction of the Crystal Palace at Sydenham. It treads a familiar path well known to historians, but reveals little new. And there is much more that could be revealed, especially the many concerns about the structural stability of his design. Cast iron features strongly in his work, but was already well known for its brittle behaviour in tension. Presumably this is why he or others insisted on rigourous testing of the cast iron girders before installation, one of the very first examples of 100% product testing before use of a critical component in a real structure. Although the author does not say so, the public were very critical of cast-iron since there had been numerous failures of cast-iron railway bridges preceding the building of the great glass palace. The Dee bridge disaster was one of those disasters on a brand new bridge designed and built by Robert Stephenson. There were also concerns about high winds and their effects on such a large structure, concerns which led to extra reinforcing elements such as cross-bracing to be adopted within the structure. But yet a part was blown down in 1861 at Sydenham in a storm, so maybe Paxton should have heeded the early warnings? It is a fascinating story of a humble gardener thrust into the limelight, but there are hidden details which are still to be revealed, especially his relations with Fox and Henderson, as well as Brunel and Stephenson. The Crystal Palace was a truly revolutionary building and was copied all over the world as the industrial revolution itself gathered pace. The idea of exhibiting new products at an exhibition had been tried before but never on this scale, and again, the number of international exhibitions blossomed after the success of the first. The book is well written and composed, but much more could be written of the great success of this English engineer. A buy for its interest.
Would love it in large print, otherwise just what I wanted.
I have read this book many times and was glad to get a copy of it as I have misplaced the book.
It is a fascinating story of how a gardener without any formal education ended up building the Crystal Palace and the techniques required to do so. It also tells of the other advancements being made at that time (1800's) that shows how much was achieved by the Victorians.