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Henry Petroski

The Evolution of Useful Things: How Everyday Artifacts-From Forks and Pins to Paper Clips and Zippers-Came to be as They are Paperback – February 1, 1994

by Henry Petroski (Author)

116 ratings

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How did the table fork acquire a fourth tine? What advantage does the Phillips-head screw have over its single-grooved predecessor? Why does the paper clip look the way it does? What makes Scotch tape Scotch?

In this delightful book Henry, Petroski takes a microscopic look at artifacts that most of us count on but rarely contemplate, including such icons of the everyday as pins, Post-its, and fast-food "clamshell" containers. At the same time, he offers a convincing new theory of technological innovation as a response to the perceived failures of existing products—suggesting that irritation, and not necessity, is the mother of invention.

Print length

304 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Vintage
Publication date

February 1, 1994
Dimensions

5.22 x 0.64 x 7.92 inches
ISBN-10

0679740392
ISBN-13

978-0679740391
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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

This surprising book may appear to be about the simple things of life--forks, paper clips, zippers--but in fact it is a far-flung historical adventure on the evolution of common culture. To trace the fork's history, Duke University professor of civil engineering Henry Petroski travels from prehistoric times to Texas barbecue to Cardinal Richelieu to England's Industrial Revolution to the American Civil War--and beyond. Each item described offers a cultural history lesson, plus there's plenty of engineering detail for those so inclined.

Review

"A celebration of inventiveness...By cataloging the clutter of our desks, closets, and workbenches, and giving them a human history, Petroski makes us feel more at home in our homes."- Newsweek

"Petroski is a valuable resource—an engineer who examines the simplest, most ubiquitous tools in our live with an appraising eye."- Washington Post Book World

"Mr. Petroski's case histories delightfully illustrate his thesis... You never know when you will turn a page and find some tiny corner of your mind enlightened."- The New York Times

"Petroski has an eye for the mundane that distracts and delights... [His] wealth of literary and cultural references runs from Aristotle... to Russell Baker... The book has substance."- Newsday

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Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Vintage; Reprint edition (February 1, 1994)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 304 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0679740392
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0679740391
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 9 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.22 x 0.64 x 7.92 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #361,774 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #93 in Industrial Product Design
- #105 in Americana Antiques & Collectibles
- #138 in Scientific Experiments & Projects

Customer Reviews:
116 ratings

About the author

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Henry Petroski

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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.

Customer reviews

5 star		65%
4 star		18%
3 star		10%
2 star		4%
1 star		3%

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Top reviews from the United States

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Aaron

I wanted to love this, just can't get into it

Reviewed in the United States on March 16, 2022

Verified Purchase

I really wanted to like this and find the topic inherently interesting, however I just couldn't get into it. Its pretty darn bland in prose and unfortunately if you are going to write about the development of the paper clip I think you need to be a bit more engaging. The form follows failure line gets repetitive and its just a lot of conjecture about how things developed in the end. Quite a slog for me to get through unfortunately.

Reviewed in the United States on December 12, 2005

Verified Purchase

On the face of it, the Evolution of Useful Things simply lists fun trivia about familiar objects. Why does a fork have four tines and not two or three? What's a perfect paperclip? Is there such a thing? Who invented the zipper? How many things can you see on your desk right now?

However the book gives us much more. Petroski uses a large number of concrete facts to present general laws of human thought and activity. The paper clip appeared because pins used to hold papers together made holes in them and could injure someone looking through files, but it took a while for it to reach the form we know today. We invent new things because we are dissatisfied when we find problems. Form follows not function, but failure.

While small objects play the center role here, large machines such as locomotives and large projects such as bridges also come up. Petroski argues that for his concepts to be valid, they must apply to the great as well as the small and he shows that engineers design new bridges or tunnels by solving problems observed found while building other bridges and tunnels.

The book's title is especially good. The evolution of man-made things differs fundamentally from the evolution of living things. Natural selection follows a mindless process of sifting through countless minute _random_ changes. Things, however, evolve through a different process of sifting through countless _intended_ changes (sometimes small, somtimes large) until something arises that works better than before.

Petroski's writing does annoy me a little; he's got some really bad puns. For example he follows two different quotations of how to manufacture a needle with the phrase "there's more than one way to make a point." Another problem is that he repeats himself. For instance, he twice mentions Karl Marx's astonishment at finding 500 different kinds of hammers in a Birmingham factory.

But the originality of his thesis far outweighs these minor flaws. Henry Petroski is a philosopher of engineering examining the question of why we invent things. He asks why we are always perfecting our inventions, why we are never satisfied with our tools as they are. His proposed answers in no small way explain much of the history of our rich living environment with its tens of thousands of useful things.

Vincent Poirier, Tokyo

12 people found this helpful

Helpful

Physics teacher

Interesting read

Reviewed in the United States on July 29, 2019

Verified Purchase

Great stories from historical and engineering perspectives. Makes you think about how everything around you came to be. Who would have thought the ubiquitous and mundane button would have such a story to tell, along with many others common objects.

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Eric The Read

Absolutely Fascinating

Reviewed in the United States on July 17, 2013

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This book held my interest from the first page to the last. I like the logical yet sensible way the author develops his theme (in my opinion) - that there really is no such thing as an original invention. Every so-called invention is actually an improvement on an earlier design and/or a synthesis of multiple design components into a new combination. The examples are simple to understand. All in all, this is a positively fascinating book. I bought this book years ago. The one I bought from Amazon was for a friend. I not only recommend it, I buy it for friends and family.

7 people found this helpful

Helpful

AmazonCustomer

I love all of Petroski's books

Reviewed in the United States on October 13, 2017

Verified Purchase

I love all of Petroski's books, and this is no exception. A fantastic look at the design process and how failure governs the advancement of even the most mundane objects. Worth a read for any aspiring engineer, designer, or anyone with a hands-on or technical bent.

Reviewed in the United States on September 11, 2018

Verified Purchase

Mr. Petroski takes that everyday, and tells us the story behind them. His mastery of the subject is evident, and his writing makes it a please to read.

Helpful

Kindle Customer in Jville

Good all around

Reviewed in the United States on January 27, 2022

Verified Purchase

Great condition
Arrived as promised

Helpful

Gretchen L. Smith

The Evolution of Useful Things a great book for those curious about how inventions arise

Reviewed in the United States on June 5, 2018