David Macaulay

Author · 32 books

David Macaulay, born in 1946, was eleven when his parents moved from England to Bloomfield, New Jersey. He found himself having to adjust from an idyllic English childhood to life in a fast paced American city. During this time he began to draw seriously, and after graduating from high school he enrolled in the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD). After spending his fifth year at RISD in Rome on the European Honors Program, he received a bachelor’s degree in architecture and vowed never to practice. After working as an interior designer, a junior high school teacher, and a teacher at RISD, Macaulay began to experiment with creating books. He published his first book, Cathedral, in 1973. Following in this tradition, Macaulay created other books—including City, Castle, Pyramid, Mill, Underground, Unbuilding, and Mosque—that have provided the explanations of the how and the why in a way that is both accessible and entertaining. From the pyramids of Egypt to the skyscrapers of New York City, the human race’s great architectural and engineering accomplishments have been demystified through Macaulay's elaborate show-and-tells. Five of these titles have been made into popular PBS television programs.

Books

City

Mosque

Black and White

Angelo

Crossing on Time

Building Big

Shortcut

The Way Things Work

Unbuilding

The Way Things Work Now

Cathedral

The Way Things Work

Building the Book Cathedral

Great Moments in Architecture

Jet Plane

Underground

Baaa

How Machines Work

Pyramid

Motel of the Mysteries

The Way We Work

Ship

Toilet

Mammoth Math

The New Way Things Work

Castle

Mill

Castle

Built to Last

Eye

Why the Chicken Crossed the Road

Rome Antics