Henry Petroski traces the origins of the pencil back to ancient Greece and Rome, writes factually and charmingly about its development over the centuries and around the world, and shows what the pencil can teach us about engineering and technology today.
The Pencil: A History of Design and Circumstance
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Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com Review
Like most other human artifacts, the common pencil, made and sold today by the millions, has a long and complex history. Henry Petroski, who combines a talent for fine writing with a deep knowledge of engineering and technological history, examines the story of the pencil, considering it not only as a thing in itself, but also as an exemplar of all things that are designed and manufactured.
Petroski ranges widely in time, discussing the writing technologies of antiquity. But his story really begins in the early modern period, when, in 1565, a Swiss naturalist first described the properties of the mineral that became known as graphite. Petroski traces the evolution of the pencil through the Industrial Revolution, when machine manufacture replaced earlier handwork. Along the way, he looks at some of pencil making's great innovators--including Henry David Thoreau, the famed writer, who worked in his father's pencil factory, inventing techniques for grinding graphite and experimenting with blends of lead, clay, and other ingredients to yield pencils of varying hardness and darkness. Petroski closes with a look at how pencils are made today--a still-imperfect technology that may yet evolve with new advances in materials and design. --Gregory McNamee
From Publishers Weekly
This delightful history of the lowly pencil offers a mind-sharpening look at the intersection of engineering, economics and culture. Illustrated.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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More About the Author
Henry Petroski is the Aleksandar S. Vesic Professor of Civil Engineering and a professor of history at Duke University. The author of more than a dozen previous books, he lives in Durham, North Carolina, and Arrowsic, Maine.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
58 of 60 people found the following review helpful
By J. G. Heiser
Format:Paperback
Petroski is more than a little obsessive. He has the ability to collect an astounding amount of information on truly arcane topics. He is not necessarily the most riveting author, though. It comes as no surprise to see the number of engineers who rave over his books and the lack of attention from non-engineers.
Personally, I dabble on the knife's edge between the technical and non-technical, so perhaps that was why I was able to read this book through. I'm almost embarassed to admit to burning curiousity about many issues associated with the pencil. Why are they yellow, why are they cedar, who was Eberhard (and does the name refer to the longevity of the point?), and why don't old men sharpen them with pocket knives any longer?
This book answered all of those questions and more that I hadn't come close to anticipating. While there is certainly plenty of information to satisfy the curiousity of a pencil enthusiast, the book brings a deeper level of meaning. Performing such a a detailed examination of a common product provides insight into human character and economics. It provides understanding of why businesses flourish or fail, and how that affects the mundane details of our everyday lives.
Certainly, anyone with an interest in the subject matter would be entertained by this book--it is a veritable information orgy on the subject of pencils. However, I also recommend it to anyone with an interest in the history of technology--how it develops, why product categories are made the way they are, and how society appropriates these products and adapts itelf to them. "Everyday Things" was too boring to me to complete, but I read "Pencils" cover to cover. Perhaps there is more to be learned through detailed research into one specific and common technology than there is through the broad brush approach of "Things."
17 of 17 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I loved this book. No surprise, because several years ago I became aware of the differences in the way pencils write. I picked up a great pencil as a giveaway from a community college. It felt like satin gliding along the paper. I kept it tucked safely inside my desk where my students could not get it. The first of the book is thought provoking as it discusses how the pencil has been ignored. This book and the EVOLUTION OF USEFUL THINGS, causes one to pause and consider the important, overlooked items of our daily lives. Maybe a reader is left with a good life lesson. THE BOOK ON THE BOOKSHELF is my next read. One thing for sure, you have to have a bit of an engineering streak in you to hang on every word. Get ready for strange looks when you answer the question, "What are you reading now?"
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
What a suprise! Who could think that such a simple object could have such an interesting history? Henry Petroski, as in his other books, weaves a tale that entertains and amazes in this history of the pencil, looking at both its historical progress and technical progress. Worth the read, no matter whether you are interested in engineering or not!
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
A desert island book, at least for me...
Among the first, and arguably the best of the "Take a Common Object, and Capitalize It" genre (Cf. Mark Kurlansky' Salt or Cod, both also excellent...)
Published 2 months ago by Quondam Flatlander
5.0 out of 5 stars
I bought it as a joke.
My friends and I had an inside joke. It involved a character named "The Pencil."
This book just needed to EXIST for me to give it five stars. It did. Read more
This book just needed to EXIST for me to give it five stars. It did. Read more
Published 4 months ago by David Gutsche
1.0 out of 5 stars
Ridiculous Kindle Price
Gee, I wonder if the publisher (or Amazon) is wondering how come people aren't paying the (ridiculous) price for the Kindle edition. 18 something dollars! Give me a break!
Published 7 months ago by Robert E. Maguire
5.0 out of 5 stars
Passion for Pencils
I am obsessive compulsive about fountain pens AND pencils. I was one of those people who advocated fiercely to bring back the "BLACKWING 602" [by Eberhard Faber Co. Read more
Published 13 months ago by Elizabeth Popiel
5.0 out of 5 stars
A good book
I really like books that explain the origin of common things that we all take for granted. This is one of many that I own. Read more
Published on September 12, 2009 by G. Sporer
1.0 out of 5 stars
This attempt shows the need for a book on the history and design of...
I'll admit that I was only able to force myself to read the first 90 pages. The prose varies from rambling to ranting. The author jumps from subject to subject like a pogo stick. Read more
Published on November 5, 2008 by Robert Pearson
4.0 out of 5 stars
Too much and too little.
This is the only contemporary book on the subject that I have been able to find. For that, I give it points. Read more
Published on June 29, 2006 by Joseph A. Liccione
4.0 out of 5 stars
Pencils Plus and Minus
I've read Petroski before, so I was prepared for his discursive style, alternately entertaining and annoying. Read more
Published on June 17, 2006 by Anson Cassel Mills
2.0 out of 5 stars
What I first said about it.."A mark made on all civilisation"
By the author of "The Dream of the Decade"
THE WORD for that greatest tool of demystification, the pencil, comes indirectly from the Latin word penis. Read more
THE WORD for that greatest tool of demystification, the pencil, comes indirectly from the Latin word penis. Read more
Published on March 9, 2006 by Afshin Rattansi
5.0 out of 5 stars
The complex relationships of a simple object
This book takes somthing I always considered simple and took for granted, and shows how it interrelates. Who knew, for example, that WWII lend-lease included pencils? Read more
Published on January 17, 2005 by Bufford D. Moore
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 100
books:
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36
books
cite this book:
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- Walden Pond (NE Landmarks) by Bonnie McGrath on page 121, page 123, and page 335
- Henry David Thoreau by Houghton Mifflin Company on page 13, page 109, and page 174
- A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway on page 324, and Back Matter
- To Engineer Is Human: The Role of Failure in Successful Design by Henry Petroski in Front Matter, and Back Matter
- Multimedia Kits: Industrial Revolution CD by Teacher Created Materials in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
See all 100 books this book cites
- A Historical Guide to Henry David Thoreau (Historical Guides to American Authors) by William E. Cain on page 54, and page 236
- Graffiti and the Writing Arts of Early Modern England (Material Texts) by Juliet Fleming in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- The Future of War: Organizations as Weapons (Issues in Twenty-First Century Warfare) by Mark D. Mandeles on page 54
- To Engineer Is Human: The Role of Failure in Successful Design by Henry Petroski in Front Matter
- Nonlinear Dynamics: The Richard Rand 50th Anniversary Volume (Stability, Vibration and Control of Structures Series) by Ardeshir Guran on page 198
See all 36 books citing this book
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