The pencil is such a simple piece of technology that it is often ignored. No one gives it a second thought to lose a pencil or throw one away. In fact, it’s the only piece of property that we lend to perfect strangers with little or no expectations of it being returned. The pencil is just everyday debris, a technology so common that we don’t even think of it as technology. And yet a tremendous amount of engineering, imagination, and hard work of thousands of people has gone into the simple, humble wood case pencil. Such a simple technology that has played such an important role in art and science, in everyday writing, and in every students learning experience deserves more credit then we give it.
Henry Petroski has taken on the challenge to track down and retell the history of the pencil in all its wonderful minutia. Starting from its murky origin through its industrialization to its place in our modern society (of the early 1990’s) the pencil has had an incredibly complex history and mix of economics and creativity that is inherit to any engineering endeavor. For Petroski the history of the pencil is a perfect metaphor for what he calls the engineering method. He makes a pretty convincing argument for treating the practice of engineering in the same manner that we treat the scientific method. It doesn’t take Petroski much arguing to convince the reader that engineering is so pervasive in our everyday lives, that it warrants more study of how engineers perform their jobs and make the things we simply can’t live without. However, since much of engineering is tied up in drawings and diagrams of designs and solutions, that there simply aren’t enough eloquent engineers to explain the process to the public in the same ways as popularizers of science.
Luckily, Petroski is an eloquent historian, whose enthusiasm for his subjects is infectious. Now full disclosure here, I’m something of a wood case enthusiast, so I need little selling on the arcane history of the pencil. For most folks it’s a bit of harder sale, which is understandable of course. But Petroski does such a good job of making the history relatable and easy to read that it feels more like reading a general history rather than a dry history of some dull everyday object. It’s not a page turner by any means, but I think there is enough information and enough exploration of the engineering methodology to keep anyone interested until the end. Then again I could be completely blinded by love of the pencil that this could all be completely terrible and not worth reading. So yeah, I thought it was great, not sure if everyone else will.
*1st draft of this review written with a General’s Layout (Extra Black) No.555 B-core pencil
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Top reviews from other countries
Elizabeth Creith
You'll never look at pencils the same way again!
Reviewed in Canada on August 21, 2023
me55
correct title should be: The American Pencil: a History... with a brief introduction ...
Reviewed in Italy on June 29, 2019
A B Scott
Excellent reference source.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 16, 2013