Acknowledgements

I must begin by expressing my appreciation of Eric Breeze, one of my secondary school physics teachers, whose slogan was ‘physics is fun’: it turns out he was right. I trust he would have been gratified to learn that, decades on, one of his pupils was sufficiently engaged with physics to write a book about it.

Next, I must thank John Potter for introducing me first to the application of the theory of physics to the practical matters of designing and constructing buildings, and secondly to the need to present the recommendations as clearly as possible.

Fay Gibbons, the commissioning editor for this book, has been a great help, particularly in the structuring of the text. Her clear-eyed view of the wood has been invaluable while I have been grubbing at the roots of the trees. However, the fact that I am constitutionally incapable of adopting other people’s suggested structures ensures that infelicities of organisation remain my own.

I would also like to thank Dr Claire Das Bhaumik (Inkling LLP), Matthew Frost and Huw Heywood for reviewing early drafts of the manuscript: their comments and suggestions have substantially improved the final text.

My greatest thanks are reserved for my family, who have supported me throughout the writing process, particularly during the final months when the whole of life seemed wrapped in a steadily thickening fog of building physics.

HMAE
January 2016