There's so much written about the Titanic, and it's hard to separate what's fact and what's fiction. My understanding is that the way the Titanic was designed, the emphasis was placed on surviving a head-on collision. Henry Petroski collisiondesignemphasis share on social
Any design, whether it's for a ship or an airplane, must be done in anticipation of potential failures. Henry Petroski airplaneanticipationdesign Change image and share on social
My first book, 'To Engineer Is Human,' was prompted by nonengineer friends asking me why so many technological accidents and failures were occurring. If engineers knew what they were doing, why did bridges and buildings fall down? It was a question that I had often asked myself, and I had no easy answer. Henry Petroski accidentanswerask share on social
The paradox is that when we model future designs on past successes, we are inviting failure down the line; when we take into account past failures and anticipate potential new ways in which failure can occur, we are more likely to produce successful designs. Henry Petroski accountanticipatedesign share on social
We call the fates of the Titanic and the Concordia - as well as those of the space shuttles Challenger and Columbia - 'accidents.' Foreseeing such undesirable events is what engineers are expected to do. However, design trade-offs leave technological systems open to failings once predicted, but later forgotten. Henry Petroski accidentcallchallenger share on social
I'm a firm believer that no matter how small an object is, you can find interesting things out about it and its history. Henry Petroski believerfindfirm Change image and share on social
It has been said, by engineers themselves, that given enough money, they can accomplish virtually anything: send men to the moon, dig a tunnel under the English Channel. There's no reason they couldn't likewise devise ways to protect infrastructure from the worst hurricanes, earthquakes and other calamities, natural and manmade. Henry Petroski accomplishbadcalamity share on social
Read and write with a sensitive ear. The craft of writing is very important. Practice the craft. Henry Petroski craftearimportant Change image and share on social
A common misconception about how things such as space shuttles come to be is that engineers simply apply the theories and equations of science. But this cannot be done until the new thing-to-be is conceived in the engineer's mind's eye. Rather than following from science, engineered things lead it. Henry Petroski applycommonconceive share on social
As long as there are things to wonder about, there are stories to be written about them. That makes me happy, because writing about things seems to be my thing. Henry Petroski happylongmake Change image and share on social