There is a growing interest in the use of wood in new building, not least because it has low embodied energy and it is an infinitely renewable resource. Despite a great deal of innovation in the use of wood in construction in recent years, the fundamentals of using this natural material have not really changed: the different types of wood have different properties and differing responses to the environment in which they are used. When used correctly, wood is an excellent building material but when inappropriately specified or used, it may cause problems. Poor understanding of the properties of wood and the many species and grades that are commercially available can result in this versatile material performing below expectation, and certainly less well than could have been achieved with greater understanding about how best to use it.

How Wood Works is a combination of the author's two previous books, into one comprehensive volume. Revised and updated material to deal with the essentials of structural design and building in timber, in a sustainable manner while reflecting on changes in Standards and other Regulations and expanding on certain technical areas - such as more detailed wood science and wood structure.

JIM COULSON is a Past President of the Institute of Wood Science, a Fellow of the Institute of Materials Minerals and Mining (IOM3), a Fellow of the Faculty of Building and a Chartered Environmentalist. He is a member of the Board of the Wood Technology Society (part of IOM3), a member of the UK Timber Grading Committee and a member of two BSI Committees concerned with Structural Uses for Wood-Based Materials and the Sustainability of Construction Works. He is also a member of the International Research Group on Wood Protection and a member of the ICOMOS (International Council on Monuments and Sites) International Wood Committee. He has an encyclopedic knowledge of the uses of timber and wood-based products in both historic and present-day construction. He has been a Visiting Lecturer to Schools of Architecture and Engineering at Newcastle and Durham Universities, as well as Leeds College of Building. He is founder of TFT Woodexperts Limited - a consultancy practice dealing with all technical aspects of timber and wood-based materials, their processing and uses. He also sets cryptic crossword puzzles for The Times, The Daily Telegraph, the Sunday Telegraph and Materials World (the House Magazine of IOM3).

IAIN THEW is a structural engineer, with a particular interest in the use of wood in construction. He studied Structural Engineering with Architecture at The University of Edinburgh, gaining a Masters degree in Engineering. He is secretary of the Wood Technology Society, a Materials Division of the IOM3 and sits on the B/518 BSI Committee on Structural Timber. He is also a Chartered Member of the Institution of Structural Engineers and a qualified timber grader. He works for Structural & Civil Consulting Ltd, a consultancy which specialises in wood in construction and historic buildings, and has worked on projects as varied as the Rievaulx Abbey Visitor Centre and the Castle Howard Palladian Dome.