Preface Introduction Paper Clips and Design Pencil Points and Analysis Zippers and Development Aluminum Cans and Failure Facsimile and Networks Airplanes and Computers Water and Society Bridges and Politics Buildings and Systems References and Further Reading Illustration Credits Index
Henry Petroski does it again: bringing engineering to life. Engineering design is a very human activity, with social and cultural factors playing as much a role as science and mechanics. Nobody tells the story better than Petroski, with his meticulously researched case histories of objects that range from the small and ordinary to the large and complex. Our understanding of design is, once again, made richer and more profound. -- Donald A. Norman, Vice President, Apple Computer, and author of Things That Make Us Smart Magicians are famous for keeping their 'tricks' a secret. Inventors and engineers are often thought to have the same attitude about their often remarkable technological achievements. Ask a person on the street how zippers, pop-top aluminum cans, or fax machines work, and you're likely to get a shrug and an anguished admission: 'I don't even know how to program my VCR.' At last, the always enlightening--and entertaining--Henry Petroski explains many of the more confounding technological riddles of modern life in Invention by Design. This is a delightful book and a 'must read' for anyone who wants to know how the modern world got to be the way it is. -- Norman R. Augustine, President and CEO, Lockheed Martin Corporation Whales and parrots host large, rapidly evolving vocal traditions. Beavers and termites construct elaborate artifacts. Humans alone combine these two facilities to rapidly evolve artifacts. Engineering may be the most uniquely human endeavor. Petroski's compelling new book raises our consciousness to this truth, with case studies ranging from the gripping story of paper clips to the elevating tale of skyscrapers. Also here is a hint of things to come, as our artifacts play an ever greater role in their own evolution. -- Hans Moravec, author of Mind Children: The Future of Robot and Human Intelligence (Harvard) Through fascinating case histories, Henry Petroski has vividly depicted the qualitative side of engineering and in doing so has shown me that my work (especially in the area of product design) is often akin to engineering, while what engineers do is often also--no question about it--art. Though the problems that engineers and inventors set out to solve may be different from those of other design specialists, Invention by Design proves that the many design decisions in which engineers are involved are as heavily influenced by the intangibly aesthetic as by the purely functional. Mr. Petroski demonstrates in this well-rounded, accessible volume that great engineers, like all designers, are driven by the desire to improve the human condition, whatever the tools they use. -- Michael Graves, Architect
Henry Petroski was the Aleksandar S. Vesic Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Duke University.
The technical aspects of [Petroski’s] stories are very appealing.
To see a pencil as a cantilever beam or a beverage can as a
pressure vessel is to feel the power of engineering insight.
*Nature*
People who think engineering is a bore have never read anything by
Henry Petroski. A professor of civil engineering and history at
Duke University, Petroski is notable for writing an entire book
about pencils…and making the whole 400 pages completely
fascinating. His newest book, which proclaims itself as showing
‘how engineers get from thought to thing,’ is equally interesting…
Invention by Design uses 10 short case studies to introduce some of
the discipline’s salient principles and techniques… Readers end up
with a wonderful accumulation of fun facts… Such details do more
than entertain. They show how engineers work and emphasize how
engineers must go beyond design and analysis to consider the risks
and consequences of a product’s failure, ensure quality control,
minimize costs and satisfy the dictates of aesthetics, politics and
social attitudes.
*Cleveland Plain Dealer*
This is a delightful book to read. Ostensibly written for
intelligent laypersons to give some understanding of how we got to
the technological world in which we now live, it will probably be
read and enjoyed as much or even more by engineering and product
designers.
*Engineering Designer*
Petroski light-heartedly though soundly exposes the so-called
engineer’s thinking, which from its position within the field of
science and technology is more concerned with designing than with
calculating. The book makes elegant connections between the design
features of a variety of ‘engineering products.’ These are
discussed in the most natural-seeming of series; from paper clip,
pencil and zipper, via problems of water and air transport, to
designs for bridges and skyscrapers. The reader is, as it were,
trained to be an inquisitive designer. Scattered throughout the
book are brief mental exercises in the shape of entertaining
questions regarding designed details of the real world (Why are
ashtrays in aircraft glued shut? What structural precautions need
to be taken if a complete oil platform, whose length is greater
than the height of the highest building in the world, is to be
moved from a horizontal to a vertical position?) This arrangement
explains why the book is required reading for many a student. But
Petroski also achieves the necessary depth whenever he explains in
detail the principles and processes which lie behind existing and
widely known products… [Invention by Design] does comprise an
outstanding source of knowledge and inspiration as much about
history as about design approaches.
*Archis [The Netherlands]*
Invention by Design should be required reading for all present and
future engineers.
*ASEE Prism*
If in Invention by Design Henry Petroski doesn’t quite endow
engineers with all the nobility and cachet of the artist, he does
make the products of their work—the beer cans from which we drink,
the airplanes in which we fly—the interesting things they truly
are. Each of these—along with the paper clip, pencil, zipper, fax
machine, water-supply system, bridge and skyscraper—Petroski honors
with a heavily illustrated chapter, each a glimpse into the
workings of engineering design… [Petroski] tells a good story.
*Civilization*
[A] lucid and lively book… Whether designing something as small as
a pencil or as large as the World Trade Center, successful
engineers must not only devise new technology but also find a way
to situate that technology within the existing economic, social,
and ecological order. Every case study includes well-chosen
pictures and schematic drawings to clarify how inventors resolve
technical difficulties, and the carefully researched text explains
how they make their new creations economically feasible and
socially acceptable. Students of technology will delight in one
part of the book, cultural historians in another, but both groups
will praise the author.
*Booklist*
Petroski is, essentially, a cheerleader for civil engineers, who
are at their most successful when their designs blend so completely
into our environment that we forget about the magnificent
achievements they represent. Here Petroski takes a look at the
development of such things as pencils, zippers, paper clips, the
fax machine, turbojet aircraft, suspension bridges, aluminum
beverage cans, and the systems that heat and cool modern buildings…
[A] pleasant, readable, and persuasive [book].
*Kirkus Reviews*
Petroski…has done much to make the nerdy world of engineering
interesting and accessible to the reader. Here, he’s after a
difference audience, one interested in the philosophy and cultural
study of the process of invention… This book is engaging… [It’s]
good reading for those interested in the gestalt of engineering
design.
*Library Journal*
Magicians are famous for keeping their ‘tricks’ a secret. Inventors
and engineers are often thought to have the same attitude about
their often remarkable technological achievements. Ask a person on
the street how zippers, pop-top aluminum cans, or fax machines
work, and you’re likely to get a shrug and an anguished admission:
‘I don’t even know how to program my VCR.’ At last, the always
enlightening—and entertaining—Henry Petroski explains many of the
more confounding technological riddles of modern life in Invention
by Design. This is a delightful book and a ‘must read’ for anyone
who wants to know how the modern world got to be the way it is.
*Norman R. Augustine, President and CEO, Lockheed Martin
Corporation*
Through fascinating case histories, Henry Petroski has vividly
depicted the qualitative side of engineering and in doing so has
shown me that my work (especially in the area of product design) is
often akin to engineering, while what engineers do is often also—no
question about it—art. Though the problems that engineers and
inventors set out to solve may be different from those of other
design specialists, Invention by Design proves that the many design
decisions in which engineers are involved are as heavily influenced
by the intangibly aesthetic as by the purely functional. Mr.
Petroski demonstrates in this well-rounded, accessible volume that
great engineers, like all designers, are driven by the desire to
improve the human condition, whatever the tools they use.
*Michael Graves, architect*
Whales and parrots host large, rapidly evolving vocal traditions.
Beavers and termites construct elaborate artifacts. Humans alone
combine these two facilities to rapidly evolve artifacts.
Engineering may be the most uniquely human endeavor. Petroski’s
compelling new book raises our consciousness to this truth, with
case studies ranging from the gripping story of paper clips to the
elevating tale of skyscrapers. Also here is a hint of things to
come, as our artifacts play an ever greater role in their own
evolution.
*Hans Moravec, author of Mind Children: The Future of Robot and
Human Intelligence*
Henry Petroski does it again: bringing engineering to life.
Engineering design is a very human activity, with social and
cultural factors playing as much a role as science and mechanics.
Nobody tells the story better than Petroski, with his meticulously
researched case histories of objects that range from the small and
ordinary to the large and complex. Our understanding of design is,
once again, made richer and more profound.
*Donald A. Norman, Vice President, Apple Computer, and author of
Things That Make Us Smart*
The technical aspects of [Petroski's] stories are very appealing.
To see a pencil as a cantilever beam or a beverage can as a
pressure vessel is to feel the power of engineering insight. --
David Jones * Nature *
People who think engineering is a bore have never read anything by
Henry Petroski. A professor of civil engineering and history at
Duke University, Petroski is notable for writing an entire book
about pencils...and making the whole 400 pages completely
fascinating. His newest book, which proclaims itself as showing
'how engineers get from thought to thing,' is equally
interesting... Invention by Design uses 10 short case
studies to introduce some of the discipline's salient principles
and techniques... Readers end up with a wonderful accumulation of
fun facts... Such details do more than entertain. They show how
engineers work and emphasize how engineers must go beyond design
and analysis to consider the risks and consequences of a product's
failure, ensure quality control, minimize costs and satisfy the
dictates of aesthetics, politics and social attitudes. -- John R.
Alden * Cleveland Plain Dealer *
This is a delightful book to read. Ostensibly written for
intelligent laypersons to give some understanding of how we got to
the technological world in which we now live, it will probably be
read and enjoyed as much or even more by engineering and product
designers. -- Peter J. Booker * Engineering Designer *
Petroski light-heartedly though soundly exposes the so-called
engineer's thinking, which from its position within the field of
science and technology is more concerned with designing than with
calculating. The book makes elegant connections between the design
features of a variety of 'engineering products.' These are
discussed in the most natural-seeming of series; from paper clip,
pencil and zipper, via problems of water and air transport, to
designs for bridges and skyscrapers. The reader is, as it were,
trained to be an inquisitive designer. Scattered throughout the
book are brief mental exercises in the shape of entertaining
questions regarding designed details of the real world (Why are
ashtrays in aircraft glued shut? What structural precautions need
to be taken if a complete oil platform, whose length is greater
than the height of the highest building in the world, is to be
moved from a horizontal to a vertical position?) This arrangement
explains why the book is required reading for many a student. But
Petroski also achieves the necessary depth whenever he explains in
detail the principles and processes which lie behind existing and
widely known products... [Invention by Design] does comprise
an outstanding source of knowledge and inspiration as much about
history as about design approaches. -- Marc Maurer * Archis [The
Netherlands] *
Invention by Design should be required reading for all
present and future engineers. -- Dennis J. Fallon * ASEE Prism
*
If in Invention by Design Henry Petroski doesn't quite endow
engineers with all the nobility and cachet of the artist, he does
make the products of their work-the beer cans from which we drink,
the airplanes in which we fly-the interesting things they truly
are. Each of these-along with the paper clip, pencil, zipper, fax
machine, water-supply system, bridge and skyscraper-Petroski honors
with a heavily illustrated chapter, each a glimpse into the
workings of engineering design... [Petroski] tells a good story. --
Robert Kanigal * Civilization *
[A] lucid and lively book... Whether designing something as small
as a pencil or as large as the World Trade Center, successful
engineers must not only devise new technology but also find a way
to situate that technology within the existing economic, social,
and ecological order. Every case study includes well-chosen
pictures and schematic drawings to clarify how inventors resolve
technical difficulties, and the carefully researched text explains
how they make their new creations economically feasible and
socially acceptable. Students of technology will delight in one
part of the book, cultural historians in another, but both groups
will praise the author. -- Bryce Christensen * Booklist *
Petroski is, essentially, a cheerleader for civil engineers, who
are at their most successful when their designs blend so completely
into our environment that we forget about the magnificent
achievements they represent. Here Petroski takes a look at the
development of such things as pencils, zippers, paper clips, the
fax machine, turbojet aircraft, suspension bridges, aluminum
beverage cans, and the systems that heat and cool modern
buildings... [A] pleasant, readable, and persuasive [book]. *
Kirkus Reviews *
Petroski...has done much to make the nerdy world of engineering
interesting and accessible to the reader. Here, he's after a
difference audience, one interested in the philosophy and cultural
study of the process of invention... This book is engaging...
[It's] good reading for those interested in the gestalt of
engineering design. * Library Journal *
Magicians are famous for keeping their 'tricks' a secret. Inventors
and engineers are often thought to have the same attitude about
their often remarkable technological achievements. Ask a person on
the street how zippers, pop-top aluminum cans, or fax machines
work, and you're likely to get a shrug and an anguished admission:
'I don't even know how to program my VCR.' At last, the always
enlightening-and entertaining-Henry Petroski explains many of the
more confounding technological riddles of modern life in
Invention by Design. This is a delightful book and a 'must
read' for anyone who wants to know how the modern world got to be
the way it is. -- Norman R. Augustine, President and CEO, Lockheed
Martin Corporation
Through fascinating case histories, Henry Petroski has vividly
depicted the qualitative side of engineering and in doing so has
shown me that my work (especially in the area of product design) is
often akin to engineering, while what engineers do is often also-no
question about it-art. Though the problems that engineers and
inventors set out to solve may be different from those of other
design specialists, Invention by Design proves that the many
design decisions in which engineers are involved are as heavily
influenced by the intangibly aesthetic as by the purely functional.
Mr. Petroski demonstrates in this well-rounded, accessible volume
that great engineers, like all designers, are driven by the desire
to improve the human condition, whatever the tools they use. --
Michael Graves, architect
Whales and parrots host large, rapidly evolving vocal traditions.
Beavers and termites construct elaborate artifacts. Humans alone
combine these two facilities to rapidly evolve artifacts.
Engineering may be the most uniquely human endeavor. Petroski's
compelling new book raises our consciousness to this truth, with
case studies ranging from the gripping story of paper clips to the
elevating tale of skyscrapers. Also here is a hint of things to
come, as our artifacts play an ever greater role in their own
evolution. -- Hans Moravec, author of Mind Children: The Future
of Robot and Human Intelligence
Henry Petroski does it again: bringing engineering to life.
Engineering design is a very human activity, with social and
cultural factors playing as much a role as science and mechanics.
Nobody tells the story better than Petroski, with his meticulously
researched case histories of objects that range from the small and
ordinary to the large and complex. Our understanding of design is,
once again, made richer and more profound. -- Donald A. Norman,
Vice President, Apple Computer, and author of Things That Make
Us Smart
Petroski (The Pencil, LJ 3/1/90) has done much to make the nerdy world of engineering interesting and accessible to the reader. Here, he's after a different audience, one interested in the philosophy and cultural study of the process of invention. By examining the relationship between the invention of devices and their refinement over time by others, Petroski identifies design principles that engineers use to make things work. Written as a series of case studies ranging from the paper clip to the zipper to the FAX machine to the Boeing 777, this book is engaging but tends to instruct rather than entertain. Little exercises that ask the reader to, say, imagine refinements to the basic plastic sandwich bag hint at this book's history as an engineering course curriculum, but it's still good reading for those interested in the gestalt of engineering design. Quotations and illustrations from patent applications are particularly fascinating and are used well. For popular science collections.‘Mark L. Shelton, Univ. of Massachusetts Medical Ctr., Worcester
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