This book provides a glimpse of the author JMT Thompson's lifetime work on the buckling of thin shell structures, the general theory of elastic stability, chaos theory and some aspects of nonlinear dynamics relevant to the escape from a potential well.Besides the traditional topics that will be useful to readers who are engineers and researchers, the compilation also includes a paper on climate predictions, showcasing the prolific interest of the author who has published more than 200 research papers throughout his scientific career. The introductory chapter includes the biographical details. Well-illustrated by many colourful figures and photographs, the reader will find a lively introduction to topics in the fields of physics, engineering and nonlinear dynamics.