To Engineer Is Human

The Role Of Failure In Successful Design

By: Henry Petroski

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Paperback | 31 March 1992 | Edition Number 1

At a Glance

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274 Pages

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20 x 13.5 x 2

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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.

Industry Reviews

"Reading Petroski's fine book is not only a delight, it is a necessity." --Houston Chronicle "Serious, amusing, probing, sometimes frightening, and always literate." --Los Angeles Times

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You Can Find This Book In

Non-Fiction Engineering & Technology Technology in General Technical Design Engineering in General Reference, Information & Interdisciplinary Subjects Encyclopaedias & Reference Works Civil Engineering Arts & Entertainment Architecture Architectural Structure & Design Science

Science in General Text Books Higher Education & Vocational Textbooks Engineering & Physics Higher Education Textbooks

Preface	p. vii
Being Human	p. 1
Falling Down is Part of Growing up	p. 11
Lessons From Play; Lessons From Life Appendix: "The Deacon's Masterpiece,"	p. 35
Engineering as Hypothesis	p. 40
Success is Foreseeing Failure	p. 53
Design is Getting From Here to There	p. 64
Design as Revision	p. 75
Accidents Waiting to Happen	p. 85
Safety in Numbers	p. 98
When Cracks Become Breakthroughs	p. 107
Of Bus Frames and Knife Blades	p. 122
Interlude: The Success Story of the Crystal Palace	p. 136
The Ups and Downs of Bridges	p. 158
Forensic Engineering and Engineering Fiction	p. 172
From Slide Rule to Computer: Forgetting How it Used to be Done	p. 189
Connoisseurs of Chaos	p. 204
The Limits of Design	p. 216
Afterword	p. 229
Bibliography	p. 233
Index	p. 245
List of Illustrations
Cartoons illustrating public concern over engineering failures
Models of the ubiquitous cantilever beam
The Brooklyn Bridge: Anticipating failure by the engineer and by the layman
The Crystal Palace: Testing the galleries and finding them sound
The Crystal Palace and two of its modern imitators
Suspension bridges: The Tacoma Narrows and after
The Kansas City Hyatt Regency walkways collapse
The Mianus River Bridge collapse and its aftermath
Table of Contents provided by Syndetics. All Rights Reserved.

To Engineer Is Human

The Role Of Failure In Successful Design

At a Glance

Paperback

Industry Reviews

Shipping

How to return your order

Defective items

You Can Find This Book In

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