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Petroski, Henry ListingsIf you cannot find what you want on this page, then please use our search feature to search all our listings. Click on Title to view full description
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EVOLUTION OF USEFUL THINGS
Petroski, Henry
1992 1572 ABOUT THE BOOK Evolution of Useful Things ANNOTATION In his first book since The Pencil, Petroski looks with affection and awe at how everyday artifacts--from forks and pins to paper clips and zippers--came to be as they are. A mind-opening experience that is fun to read. FROM THE PUBLISHER Only Henry Petroski, author of The Pencil, could make one never pick up a paper clip again without being overcome with feelings of awe and reverence. In his new book the author examines a host of techno-trivia questions - how the fork got its tines, why Scotch tape is called that, how the paper clip evolved, how the Post-it note came to be, how the zipper was named, why aluminum cans have hollow bottoms - and provides us with answers that both astonish and challenge the imagination. In addition to an extended discussion of knives, forks, spoons, and other common devices, the author explains how the interplay of social and technical factors affects the development and use of such things as plastic bags, fast-food packaging, push-button telephones, and other modern conveniences. Throughout the book familiar objects serve to illustrate the general principles behind the evolution of all products of invention and engineering. Petroski shows, by way of these examples as well as a probing look at the patent process, that the single most important driving force behind technological change is the failure of existing devices to live up to their promise. As shortcomings become evident and articulated, new and "improved" versions of artifacts come into being through long and involved processes variously known as research and development, invention, and engineering. He further demonstrates how the evolving forms of technology generally are altered by our very use of them, and how they, in turn, alter our social and cultural behavior. In this wonderful mixture of history, biography, and design theory, Henry Petroski brings us to an understanding of an essential question: By what mechanism do the shapes and forms of our made world come to be? FROM THE CRITICS Library Journal For armchair inventors or those who are curious about the way things work, this book offers hours of delight. Petroski (engineering, Duke Univ.) provides an intricate look, in lay reader's terms, at the technology and basic rationale behind a number of items we often take for granted. The list is comprehensive: kitchen utensils, zippers, tools, paper clips, fast-food packaging, and more. The text is far from a recital of mere facts. Petroski's anecdotes and stories about individual designers and inventors are told with warm regard. Petroski also provides illuminating thoughts on the theoretical, historical, and cultural frameworks that influenced these creations. Although this book will appeal to a somewhat specialized audience, many general readers will find it fascinating and educational. For circulating libraries.-- Carol J. Binkowski, Bloomfield, N.J. BookList - Donna Seaman Petroski's "The Pencil" delighted readers with its insights into the ingenious design of a little-noticed, everyday object. His newest book expands upon this fascination with the "extraordinariness of the ordinary" in a series of linked investigations of the origin and evolution of various artifacts. Petroski scoffs at the phrase "Form follows function" and demonstrates how slowly and fumblingly objects are adapted to their uses. His account of the clumsy evolution of the fork, a relatively recent creation, is a prime example. Stating that inventors are actually critics trying to improve existing technologies and are, therefore, often stuck with entrenched failures of conception, Petroski illuminates the surprisingly entertaining histories of the pin industry, the paper clip, buttons, zippers, sandpaper, Scotch tape, cellophane, and Post-it notes. In a chapter on the development of tools to make tools, he delves into the manufacturing process and the sort of specialization that has resulted in 500 different kinds of hammers. A penetrating, anecdotal as well as philosophical look at how technol Knopf Publishing Group 0-679-41226-3 / 9780679412267
Hardcover As New As New Book Jacket New York
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23.23 USD
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INVENTION BY DESIGN : HOW ENGINEERS GET FROM THOUGHT TO THING
Petroski, Henry
02870464 Soft Cover. Very Good. 6 x 9". From Publishers Weekly: "Invention, Petroski has steadfastly maintained, comes from a failure of design. The paperclip that can only be used in one direction, that becomes easily tangled in a box, or that tears the paper has led inventors to a cycle of improvements and patents. ..That's the story of the case studies here, many of which Petroski has used in other books - the paperclip, zipper and aluminum can appeared in The Evolution of Useful Things, the pencil in The Pencil; and the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge in Engineers of Dreams. But Petroski still manages to add something new. When talking about the Bay Bridge, for example, he goes into great depth here about the impact of factors far removed from statics, dynamics and hydraulics. He looks at the importance of John Roebling's personal charisma and the impact of the 1879 failure of the Firth of Tay bridge on the subsequent construction of bridges. .. In the same way, his sections on "Facsimile and Networks" and "Airplanes and Computers" offer very interesting insights into the economics of implementing large-scale projects (fax machines became popular in part because of Federal Express's promotion of its new ZapMail, which turned into a $300 million bath for the company). Those who don't know Petroski's work will find this an enjoyable introduction. Those who do, will appreciate the additional gloss." . Inscription by previous owner inside front page. 256 pages filled with wonderful inventive black & white drawins. Cambridge, MA, U.S.A.: Harvard University Press, 1996
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15.75 USD
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THE BOOK ON THE BOOKSHELF
Petroski, Henry
02872054 Soft Cover. 290 fascinating pages that are "very engaging and wonderfully informative! The book unfolds a history of invention, craftsmanship, engineering, manufacturing, and business that is also at times, a history of cultural life on both sides of the Atlantic. No readers of this book will ever be able to pick up a pencil again without marveling!" ..Hilton Kramer, Newsday Black & White photos, drawings are found throughout the pages. Alfred A. Knopf, 1999
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15.75 USD
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TO ENGINEER IS HUMAN : THE ROLE OF FAILURE IN SUCCESSFUL DESIGN
Petroski, Henry
02871308 Soft Cover. As New. Out of Print. 5 x 8". 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 crowing achievement of Victorian architecture and engineering? These are some of the failures and successes that Henry Petroski, examines in this engaging, wonderfully literate book. More than a series of fascinating case studies, this 251 page volume 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! Comments on the book: "Drawing on everyday examples of how things break, Petroski explains relevant engineering principles and how engineers deal with..risks in a way nonprofessionals will understand."..The New York Time Book Review. New York, NY, U.S.A.: Knopf Publishing Group, 1992
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15.75 USD
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TO ENGINEER IS HUMAN: THE ROLE OF FAILURE IN SUCCESSFUL DESIGN
Petroski, Henry
1992 901534 The moral of this book is that behind every great engineering success is a trail of often ignored (but frequently spectacular) engineering failures. Petroski covers many of the best known examples of well-intentioned but ultimately failed design in action -- the galloping Tacoma Narrows Bridge (which you've probably seen tossing cars willy-nilly in the famous black-and-white footage), the collapse of the Kansas City Hyatt Regency Hotel walkways -- and many lesser known but equally informative examples. The line of reasoning Petroski develops in this book were later formalized into his quasi-Darwinian model of technological evolution in The Evolution of Useful Things, but this book is arguably the more illuminating -- and defintely the more enjoyable -- of these two titles. Highly recommended. Review Reading Petroski's fine book is not only a delight, it is a necessity -- Houston Chronicle! Vintage 0-679-73416-3 / 9780679734161
Soft Cover Very Good Condition New York
Price:
16.34 USD
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