To Engineer Is Human

Posted on 08 January 2018 by Henry Petroski

Reading Petroski s fine book is not only a delight, it is a necessity Houston ChronicleHow 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 Alert, inquisitive, unspecialized, wholly humanrefreshingly eclectic The Spectator Henry Petroski is an ardent engineer, and if he writes good books like this, he might find himself nominated to become the meistersinger of the guild This is a refreshing plunge into the dynamics of the engineering ethosas straightforward as an I beam Science New Read To Engineer Is Human Author Henry Petroski For Kindle ePUB or eBook – kino-fada.fr Perhaps I rate this too highly Problem is I love technology and its issues and Petroski is one of my favorite writers on civil engineering On the 50th anniversary of the Golden Gate Bridge, May 27, 1987, almost 1,000,000 people showed up to celebrate and to walk across a bridge that was designed using the same basic technology as the infamous Tacoma Narrows bridge Only about 250,000 were able to squeeze on the bridge, and fortunately no panic occurred as the Golden Gate Bridge began to sway g Perhaps I rate this too highly Problem is I love technology and its issues and Petroski is one of my favorite writers on civil engineering On the 50th anniversary of the Golden Gate Bridge, May 27, 1987, almost 1,000,000 people showed up to celebrate and to walk across a bridge that was designed using the same basic technology as the infamous Tacoma Narrows bridge Only about 250,000 were able to squeeze on the bridge, and fortunately no panic occurred as the Golden Gate Bridge began to sway gently from side to side Hangar cables became slack something that was not supposed to happen, and the main span s arch flattened out to a noticeable degree The bridge had been over designed with an ample margin of safety, unlike the walkways at the Hyatt in Kansas City, which were essentially small bridges Over 100 people were killed when the walkways collapsed Engineers ...Here, engineering primarily means big structures that can carry people bridges, building, airplanes Of course, in the real world, there are many other categories of engineering.Message of the book can be summarized in a few lines Engineering is a trade off between meeting requirements safely, and cost design cost, materials cost, labor cost , and aesthetics dramatic bridges, buildings,Primarly, it goes into depth about how a structure doesn t just follow from requirements there Here, engineering primarily means big structures that can carry people bridges, building, airplanes Of course, in the real world, there are many other categories of engineering.Message of the book can ...What attracted me to this book when I bought it 17 years ago Between the introduction and the back of the book, I got the idea that To Engineer Is Human would give me a greater understanding about the reasoning and effort that engineers put into their structures Then and now, I am awed by the bridges and buildings I come across, and at times a voice in my head echoes that of Djimon Hounsou s character in Gladiator, who, upon seeing the Coliseum for the first time, whispers, I didn t know What attracted me to this book when I bought it 17 years ago Between the introduction and the back of the book, I got the idea that To Engineer Is Human would give me a greater understanding about the reasoning and effort that engineers put into their structures Then and now, I am awed by the bridges and buildings I come across, and at times a voice in my head echoes that of Djimon Hounsou s character in Gladiator, who, upon seeing the Coliseum for the first time, whispers, I didn t know that men could build such things Next time you drive over a suspension bridge that crosses a body of water, ask yourself, How did they erect that concrete wall Petroski does not answer such questions, per se He does give some detailed accounts about some of historiesnotorious structural failures the Kansas City Hyatt Skywalk collapse in 1981 the Tacoma Narrows Bridge collapse in 1940 He also talks about the li...A very well written book that explains a lot about engineering in terms non engineers can easily understand This book is full of simple explanations that shed light on things I thought I knew, as well as informing me of many things I did not previously know To give one example, I had read before about the collapse of the Hyatt Regency walkways in Kansas City I thought I understood pretty well an explanation with diagrams showing showing how a design change in the connections...The premise really is interesting that it is from engineering failures that the most learning can be derived Sadly at least as a non engineer reader , the writing shifted from pulled me into it fascinating to merely slogging t...The first third of this book tried to explain why we need to learn from our mistakes UmI really didn t need a hundred pages to know this The examples of the failures was interesting But, then the last third of the book was again kind of boring Unfortunately, this isn t going to be my...This slim volume covers some of the most notable failures in engineering history up to the mid 1980s, and makes learning about engineering engaging The comments about how computers will change the engineering profession are oddly prescient, and make me wish for an updated book.A friend of mine once described this book as like self help for geeks I love it.A very enjoyable read I sometimes enjoy reading books by expert professionals who s main area of expertise is not necessarily in writing The author is a structural engineering professor, thus my initial interest in the book, as I am a practicing structural engineer The book is sort of an exploration into various engineering failures of the past several centuries and how those failures have served to enhance our understanding and improve future designs He very expertly explains the oft heard A very enjoyable read I sometimes enjoy reading books by expert professionals who s main area of expertise is not necessarily in writing The author is a structural engineering professor, thus my initial interest in the book, as I am a practicing structural engineer The book is sort of an exploration into various engineering failures of the past several centuries and how those failures have served to enhance our understanding and improve future designs He very expertly explains the oft heard idea that we learnfrom our failures than we do from our successes It was enjoyable for me as I am familiar with all of the case studies he used and have studied several of them in depth myself The best point of the book for me thoug...The first book by Petroski that I read was The Pencil, a book about the engineering of the pencil I think To Engineer is Human was the second of his books that I read, and in it he again shows a flair for popular engineering writing For whatever reason, popular engineering writing israre than popular science writing, which makes Petroski s work all that muchto be treasured In this particular book, Petroski looks at how the study of failures informs the engineering design cycle, an The first book by Petroski that I read w...

English
08 January 2018

Henry Petroski