50 Things I've Learned Writing Construction Physics with Brian Potter (Hyperlegible 007)

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Apr 27, 2025

Brian Potter, author of the insightful blog and newsletter Construction Physics, shares his profound understanding of the complexities in building and infrastructure. He emphasizes that ‘things are always more complicated than they seem,’ discussing topics like prefab construction, jet engines, and the evolution of energy technologies. With humility, he addresses misconceptions in shipbuilding and skyscraper speed, revealing intriguing contrasts in historical efficiency. Potter’s passion for detail enriches our appreciation of construction’s challenging yet fascinating nature.

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INSIGHT

Construction Speed: Chicago vs New York

New York’s building speed is slowed by strict union rules, scaffolding, and crane regulations.
Chicago builds skyscrapers faster due to less burdensome building codes and permits.

INSIGHT

Gas Turbine Adoption Catalysts

Gas turbines were adopted widely after the 1965 Northeast blackout for their black start ability.
The PURPA law in the 1970s accelerated small-scale gas turbine use by changing utility power buying rules.

INSIGHT

Future of Energy Storage Mix

Batteries are expected to grow alongside solar PV, but hydrocarbon storage dominates today.
Future depends on cost trends, technology advances, and whether synthetic fuels gain traction.

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Nobody on the internet writes about all of the complexity involved in actually building things -- from homes to jet engines -- better than Brian Potter, the author of Construction Physics.

I am a huge fan of Brian's writing. I use it as a reference for a lot of my pieces. I once tweeted, "Construction Physics is a national treasure and the president should give Brian Potter a medal or czar job or something." So I was thrilled to get the excuse to talk to him about a bunch of his essays by talking to him about this one specific one, 50 Things I've Learned Writing Construction Physics.

Here's the one overarching theme he's discovered writing over 600,000 words in Construction Physics: "Things are always more complicated than they seem. Simple explanations very rarely exist."

We discuss that and other lessons by digging into pre-fabbed and manufactured homes, jet engines, gas turbines, windmills, nuclear reactors, batteries, Nobel Prizes, skyscrapers, and even Titanium.

Just reading that list, you can probably tell why I like Brian's writing so much. He writes in-depth about all of the topics I love, and I learn so much from him each time.

What impressed me most is just how humble Brian is. He knows 1000x more about this stuff than I do, but when he's not entirely certain of an answer, he says so. That's probably in part due to his background as a structural engineer, and in part a response to the lesson that everything is more complicated than it seems.

I hope you learn as much from our conversation as I did, and that you go back and read everything he's written.

To get you started, here are some of the essays we discuss and that Brian recommends, both his stuff and others'.

Potter Essays

- How to Build 3,000 Airplanes in Five Years

- Why It's So Hard to Build a Jet Engine

- What Learning by Doing Looks Like

- How California Turned Against Growth

- Another Day in Katerradise - The Birth of the Grid

Recommended and Discussed Essays

- Reality Has a Surprising Amount of Detail - John Salvatier

- Timing Technology: Lessons From The Media Lab - Gwern

- 100 Tallest Completed Buildings

- Boom: Bubbles and the End of Stagnation - Byrne Hobart & Tobias Huber

You can find this and all of the articles we discuss on Hyperlegible in one place thanks to our sponsor, Readwise - Visit readwise.io/hyperlegible for a free trial and get all Hyperlegible articles automatically added to your account.

Big thanks to Jim Portela for editing!