Why the Towers Fell

In anticipation of the first anniversary of September 11, several video distributors are releasing programs chronicling and commemorating this epochal event. This NOVA episode--reportedly one of this prestigious series' most-watched--frames the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center from the unique perspective of the iconic building itself, charting the efforts of a government-commissioned blue ribbon team of forensic engineers to determine what triggered the towers' collapse. Fascinating interviews and archival footage, recalling the decisions that shaped the towers' design, are intercut with profoundly moving eyewitness testimony from survivors of the tragedy. Questions are explored: Could one tower have collapsed for different reasons than the other? Did the design trade safety for economy? Was the damage from the explosions and massive fires too great for any building to sustain? What does this disaster tell us about the safety of all tall buildings? Leslie Robertson, whose office overlooks Ground Zero, was the lead structural engineer of the World Trade Center. "I probably have more emotional attachment to [Ground Zero] than maybe any other person," he states. "I cannot escape the people who died there. Even if I'm looking down into a pile of rubble, it's still, to me, somehow up there in the air, burning. And I cannot make that go away." Highly recommended. Editor's Choice. Aud: J, H, C, P. (K. Lee Benson)