To Engineer Is Human: The Role of Failure in Successful Design

Henry Petroski

ISBN 10: 0679734163 / ISBN 13: 9780679734161

About this Item

To Engineer Is Human: The Role of Failure in Successful Design by Henry Petroski. Published by Vintage Books Div of Random House, New York, NY, Apr 1992. 1st Paperback Edition. Paperback. No DJ. Size 8vo (up to 9-1/2'' tall). Condition: Nr Fine. 250 Pgs. ISBN 0679734163. LCCN 91-50703. With a new afterword by the author. More than a series of fascinating case studies, this book is a work that looks at our deepest notions of progress and perfection, tracing the fine connection between the quantifiable realm of science and the chaotic realities of everyday life. Illustrated. Description text copyright 2005 BooksForComfort. Item ID 9156.

Seller Inventory # 9156

Bibliographic Details

• Title: To Engineer Is Human: The Role of Failure in Successful Design
• ISBN 10: 0679734163
• ISBN 13: 9780679734161
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition: 1st edition.
• Condition: Very Good
• Book Type: book

About this title

Synopsis

How did a simple design error cause one of the great disasters of the 1980s - the collapse of the walkways at the Kansas City Hyatt Regency Hotel? What made the graceful and innovative Tacoma Narrows Bridge twist apart in a mild wind in 1940? How did an oversized waterlily inspire the magnificent Crystal Palace, the crowning achievement of Victorian architecture and engineering? These are some of the failures and successes that Henry Petroski, author of the acclaimed The Pencil, examines in this engaging, wonderfully literate book. More than a series of fascinating case studies, To Engineer is Human is a work that looks at our deepest notions of progress and perfection, tracing the fine connection between the quantifiable realm of science and the chaotic realities of everyday life.

About the Author

Henry Petroski is the Aleksandar S. Vesic Professor of Civil Engineering and a professor of history at Duke University. The author of more than a dozen previous books, he lives in Durham, North Carolina, and Arrowsic, Maine.