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BOOKS by Henry Petroski

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The Evolution of Useful Things: How Everyday Artifacts-From Forks and Pins to Paper Clips and Zippers-Came to Be as They Are.

The Evolution of Useful Things: How Everyday Artifacts-From Forks and Pins to Paper Clips and Zippers-Came to Be as They Are. more books like this

by Henry Petroski

Petroski tells fascinating stories about the arduous processes that resulted in paper clips, Post-its, Phillips-head screwdrivers, Scotch tape, and fast-food "clamshell" containers. "Petroski . . . an examines the simplest . . . tools in our lives with an appraising eye".--Washington Post Book World. 45 illus.

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Invention by Design: How Engineers Get from Thought to Thing

Invention by Design: How Engineers Get from Thought to Thing more books like this

by Henry Petroski

In this book, Petroski delves deeper into the mystery of invention, to explore what everyday artifacts and sophisticated networks can reveal about the way engineers solve problems. Engineering entails more than knowing the way things work. What do economics and ecology, aesthetics and ethics, have to do with the shape of a paper clip, the tab of a ...

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The Book on the Bookshelf

The Book on the Bookshelf more books like this

by Henry Petroski

The invention of the printing press not only led to the widespread availability of books, but also required the invention of a new piece of furniture: the bookshelf. This historical survey examines the various ways bookshelves have been designed and the way their designs reveal cultural attitudes toward the value, purpose, and use of books.

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Small Things Considered: Why There Is No Perfect Design

Small Things Considered: Why There Is No Perfect Design more books like this

by Henry Petroski

Henry Petroski, who has celebrated many small things in print (including the pencil and his 1950s' paper route), here considers the way design works, and the compromises engineers have to make in the process as they try to balance aesthetics, cost, and usefulness. In the process, he considers duct tape, the E-Z pass, faucets, vegetable peelers, ...

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The Pencil: A History of Design and Circumstance

The Pencil: A History of Design and Circumstance more books like this

by Henry Petroski

Henry Petroski recounts the story of the common lead pencil as only Henry Petroski can do it: with immense erudition and sharp wit, and from an engineer's perspective that nonetheless is made perfectly clear for nonspecialists. Beginning with the surprisingly elusive history of the pencil's invention, he goes on to consider the way it is ...

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

To Engineer is Human: The Role of Failure in Successful Design more books like this

by Henry Petroski

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 ...

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Engineers of Dreams: Great Bridge Builders and the Spanning of America

Engineers of Dreams: Great Bridge Builders and the Spanning of America more books like this

by Henry Petroski

This is the story behind the Brooklyn Bridge, the Golden Gate Bridge, and a score of other marvels of the late 19th and 20th centuries' engineering geniuses. The author depicts his heroes' flaws as well as their virtues in his ongoing crusade to celebrate these engineers and the opposition that they encountered in politics, banking, public ...

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Paperboy: Confessions of a Future Engineer

Paperboy: Confessions of a Future Engineer more books like this

by Henry Petroski

By reminiscing about (among other things) his boyhood paper route, Petroski in this appealing memoir guides readers through 1950s Queens from a paperboy's point of view.

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Success Through Failure: The Paradox of Design

Success Through Failure: The Paradox of Design more books like this

by Henry Petroski

Design pervades our lives. Everything from drafting a PowerPoint presentation to planning a state-of-the-art bridge embodies this universal human activity. But what makes a great design? In this compelling and wide-ranging look at the essence of invention, distinguished engineer and author Henry Petroski argues that, time and again, we have built ...

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Design Paradigms: Case Histories of Error and Judgment in Engineering

Design Paradigms: Case Histories of Error and Judgment in Engineering more books like this

by Henry Petroski

From ancient Greek temples to twentieth century towers, engineers have learned more about design from failure than success. The concept of error, according to the author, is central to the design process. As a way of explaining the enduring aspects of engineering design, he relates stories of some of the greatest engineering successes and failures ...

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Pushing the Limits: New Adventures in Engineering more books like this

by Henry Petroski

The Bard of Engineering--author of the critically acclaimed "The Evolution of Useful Things" and "The Pencil"--turns his strikingly observant eye from small everyday objects to large feats of engineering. 28 illustrations.

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Remaking the World: Adventures in Engineering more books like this

by Henry Petroski

Leave it to Henry Petroski to explain soil mechanics by way of a game of "rock, scissors, paper" and to clarify the fundamental principles of engineering through the spokes of a Ferris wheel. This new collection of informative and diverting essays picks up where "The Pencil, The Evolution of Useful Things" and "Engineers of Dreams" left off, ...

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Book on the Book Shelf

by Henry Petroski

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The Toothpick: Technology and Culture more books like this

by Henry Petroski

Like "The Pencil," Petroskis "The Toothpick" is a celebration of a humble yet elegant device. As old as mankind and as universal as eating, this useful and ubiquitous tool finally gets its due in this wide-ranging and compulsively readable book.

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Evolution of Useful Things more books like this

by Henry Petroski

Examines objects of everyday life like the fork, the paperclip and the Post-it note. The book is a mixture of history, biography and design theory which shows how technology alters through use and how these objects can alter our social and cultural behaviour. Petroski has also written "The Pencil".

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Beyond Engineering: Essays and Other Attempts to Figure Without Equations more books like this

by Henry Petroski

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The Pencil more books like this

by Henry Petroski

Henry Petroski looks at the pencil and cites it as a prime example of elegant design and engineering with much to say about the world of modern technology. He includes facts such as that a single pencil could draw a line 70 miles long, and that Hemingway and Steinbeck wrote novels in pencil.

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Invention by Design: How Engines Get from Thought to Thing more books like this

by Henry Petroski

A master explicator of the principles and processes that turn thoughts into the many things that define the material world offers an insider's look at the political and cultural dimensions of design, development, and production. 64 line illustrations. 29 halftones.

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Mundolibro

by Henry Petroski

Un paseo por la historia del libro como objeto, como transmisor de conocimiento, como medio de comunicacion y todo su entorno como la iluminacion de las bibliotecas, su evolucion sus modos de transporte, su conservacion y ademas diversos metodos de ordenacion. Una obra para los amantes de los libros.

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