Robert C. Trumpbour and Kenneth Womack
The Eighth Wonder of the World
The Life of Houston's Iconic Astrodome
University of Nebraska Press 2016
New Books in American StudiesNew Books in ArchitectureNew Books in Arts & LettersNew Books in HistoryNew Books in Peoples & PlacesNew Books in Politics & SocietyNew Books in SportsNew Books Network December 12, 2018 Nathan Bierma
It rose against the Texas sun in all its architectural audacity: a domed stadium big enough to cover a baseball field. When it opened in 1965, the Houston Astrodome defied engineering precedent and forever changed professional sports. Today, its legacy today is complicated, and its future remains uncertain.
Robert Trumpbour and Kenneth Womack tell the story of this groundbreaking building in The Eighth Wonder of the World The Life of Houston's Iconic Astrodome (University of Nebraska Press, 2016). The book won the Seymour Medal from the Society for American Baseball Research in 2017.
Trumpbour is professor of communications at Penn State University. He is also the author of The New Cathedrals: Politics and Media in the History of Stadium Construction (Syracuse University Press, 2006). Womack is a dean and professor of English at Monmouth University, and the author of several books, including Long and Winding Roads: The Evolving Artistry of the Beatles (Bloomsbury, 2007).