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The Atomic Chef: And Other True Tales of Design, Technology, and Human Error [Hardcover]

Steven Casey (Author)
5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)

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Book Description

June 2006 0963617869 978-0963617866 1
The Atomic Chef is an altogether new collection of 20 true stories about technology and design-induced human error by the author of the highly-acclaimed original, Set Phasers on Stun. The 20 stand-alone chapters of this new work describe — with shocking and graphic candor — how technological failures result from the incompatibilities between the way things are designed and the way people actually perceive, think, and act. New technologies will succeed or fail based on our ability to minimize these incompatibilities between the characteristics of people and the characteristics of the things we create and use.

This book is the quintessential ‘must read’ for all those who deal with technology in any fashion. From the frustration of an awkward ATM machine to the threat of accidental, nuclear Armageddon, Casey shows how the same crucial factors come into play told through the very eyes of those people who saw and experienced these things. No student of design, psychology, behavioral science, or technology should be without this book and then again, neither should any intelligent member of society who wants to know what goes on with the successes and failures of modern technology.

Sit ringside to the action where compelling events unfold. The stories in this book will take you to airports and airline cabins, an amusement park, a fertility clinic, a pharmaceutical plant, an emergency dispatch center, the Olympic games, and a bank; to hospitals, spacecraft, ships, and cars. From the coasts of Peru and Monterey, in orbit aboard the International Space Station, the freeways of Southern California and the back roads of France, the battlefields of Afghanistan, and a nuclear fuel plant in Japan — this is The Atomic Chef.


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Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

"The Atomic Chef" is the new companion book to Steven Casey's "Set Phasers on Stun and Other True Tales of Design, Technology, and Human Error."

About the Author

Steven M. Casey, Ph.D., is President and Principal Scientist at Ergonomic Systems Design, Inc., a human factors research and design firm in Santa Barbara, California. He received his formal education in psychology and engineering from the University of California and North Carolina State University. His work has covered a range of products, systems, and settings, including aircraft interiors, industrial control centers, nuclear power plants, oil-field machinery, portable electronic devices, automobile controls, agricultural and construction machinery, entertainment operations, and recreation and retail facilities. He travels extensively, and has completed projects for clients in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, and Japan. The objective of his work is to help make things, especially things involving advanced technology, easier and safer for people to use. He is the two-time recipient of the Alexander C.! Williams, Jr. Award for outstanding human factors design contributions, and he has received a number of BusinessWeek/IDEA Gold awards for product design.

Product Details

  • Hardcover: 288 pages
  • Publisher: Aegean Pub Co; 1 edition (June 2006)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0963617869
  • ISBN-13: 978-0963617866
  • Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.2 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #538,200 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliantly written, October 16, 2006
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This review is from: The Atomic Chef: And Other True Tales of Design, Technology, and Human Error (Hardcover)
This anthology of 20 brilliantly written true stories should be of special interest to anyone dealing with technology management or product development, but it also would be enjoyed by any lay reader. As a well-known expert and writer on human factors engineering and human error, Steven Casey has obviously selected these stories because each subtly educates the reader about the role of the user interface in system failure, but also because each is tremendously interesting.

Although each chapter stands solidly on its own, a few stand prominent in my own mind due to personal interests. "Rhymes and Reasons" is a beautifully written story of musician John Denver's fatal flight in a new aircraft. Although an accomplished pilot, Denver's piloting skills were no match for a confusing set of aircraft controls and displays in his just-purchased home-built plane. The story makes the clearest case possible for the importance of good user interface design and ergonomics, and like all the stories in the book this one is thoroughly researched and referenced.

In addition to aviation and aerospace settings, the stories address transportation, maritime, medical, and various everyday events in contemporary life. Particularly poignant is "Event Horizon," a disturbing accident involving a child and an MRI machine in a New York hospital. In hindsight, the reader understands the procedures and barriers that must be in place when dealing with powerful new technologies like this.

Casey throws some truly hilarious stories in the mix to break up the pattern of predictability inherent in a book on error and disaster, and this approach works well. But, overall, be forewarned: the author is skilled at putting the reader in the "pilot's seat" to experience the confusion, shock, and terror that can occur when technology and human behavior conflict. I highly recommended this book.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars The Real Deal, September 27, 2006
This review is from: The Atomic Chef: And Other True Tales of Design, Technology, and Human Error (Hardcover)
I just finished reading "The Atomic Chef" and found it difficult to put down. I simply couldn't resist finding out what unexpected consequence or turn of events was around the next corner.

This is an absolute must read if you are in any way involved with the development of new products or services. Sometimes things don't go as planned despite everyone's best efforts. Like the bumper sticker says, "stuff" happens. This book gets into the stuff to reveal what really happened. The author painstakingly researches and recounts the real story behind mismatches in people and technology.

If you like fairy tale endings this may not be the book for you. However, if you are interested in learning the true details behind real world events, I highly recommend the Atomic Chef. In contrast to more traditional Human Factors books or case studies, the Atomic Chef presents enjoyable and eminently readable accounts of actual events.

Little things can make a big difference, I'd recommend The Atomic Chef's cautionary tales to any student or professional interested in learning more about the relationship between people and technology.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Eagerly-anticipated companion to 'Set Phasers on Stun', June 21, 2006
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This review is from: The Atomic Chef: And Other True Tales of Design, Technology, and Human Error (Hardcover)
I'd been waiting years for another work from Dr. Steven Casey (president of and creative drive behind Ergonomic Systems Design) ever since I finished 'Set Phasers on Stun' years ago. Being in the medical field, I am continually aware of human error and the disasters to which it can easily lead. This book, comprised of twenty-some short stories, each unique and standing on their own, ranges from the dramatic to the comical, but all driving home the valuable lesson of usability as well as the basics of simple human behavior. I was particularly intrigued by the tale of one of the largest mistakes to ever be made in the field of epidemiology and vaccination, where the translation of batch size of the fledgling polio vaccine did not manage to produce a fully inactivated shot for hundreds of school children. But I was just as pulled in by the story of John Denver's plane crash, also caused by design error - the controls and gauges were poorly designed, and the world lost an amazing musical voice due to an obvious design oversight. Casey's narrative voice precisely describes the background of each story as well as the minute-by-minute breakdown of how each disaster unfolded he leaves the haunting conclusions and implications of each short story to be made by the reader. A must-read of 2006.
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