Success through Failure: The Paradox of Design unk Edition

by Henry Petroski (Author)

17 customer reviews

ISBN-13: 978-0691122250

ISBN-10: 0691122253

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Design pervades our lives. Everything from drafting a PowerPoint presentation to planning a state-of-the-art bridge embodies this universal human activity. But what makes a great design? In this compelling and wide-ranging look at the essence of invention, distinguished engineer and author Henry Petroski argues that, time and again, we have built success on the back of failure--not through easy imitation of success.

Success through Failure shows us that making something better--by carefully anticipating and thus averting failure--is what invention and design are all about. Petroski explores the nature of invention and the character of the inventor through an unprecedented range of both everyday and extraordinary examples--illustrated lectures, child-resistant packaging for drugs, national constitutions, medical devices, the world's tallest skyscrapers, long-span bridges, and more. Stressing throughout that there is no surer road to eventual failure than modeling designs solely on past successes, he sheds new light on spectacular failures, from the destruction of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge in 1940 and the space shuttle disasters of recent decades, to the collapse of the World Trade Center in 2001.

Petroski also looks at the prehistoric and ancient roots of many modern designs. The historical record, especially as embodied in failures, reveals patterns of human social behavior that have implications for large structures like bridges and vast organizations like NASA. Success through Failure--which will fascinate anyone intrigued by design, including engineers, architects, and designers themselves--concludes by speculating on when we can expect the next major bridge failure to occur, and the kind of bridge most likely to be involved.

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

From the clumsy packaging of Aleve pain reliever to the space shuttle Columbia disaster, this engrossing study mourns and celebrates failed designs that spur further improvement. Civil engineer Petroski, author of The Evolution of Useful Things and other meditations on manufactured objects, reminds us that setbacks teach us more than triumphs. The principle is easy to see in gargantuan construction projects; the art of bridge building, he notes, advances over the rubble of collapsed spans. But the essence of engineering, he contends, is to construe every limiting aspect of existence as a remediable malfunction; even the elemental wooden pointer is an underperforming contraption with a bug—finite length—corrected in the next generation of laser pointers. The moral Petroski draws—success breeds hubris and catastrophe, failure nurtures humility and insight—is worth pondering, but his conceit mainly furnishes a peg for his trademark historical sketches of the world of objects, full of evocative observations of, say, those interludes during the glitch-prone dawn of PowerPoint presentations when "everyone just stood around or sat by and watched in silence as the bashful new technology was coaxed out of its black box." He delivers a lesson in the price of progress and another perceptive look at the relationship between man and his stuff. Photos. B&w illus. (Apr.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Civil engineer and historian Petroski interprets the 1940 collapse of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge as a cautionary tale for designers. That bridge failed because engineers made it by enlarging a previously successful idea. Wise designers, Petroski insists, must always contemplate the possibility of failure. Indeed, it is usually failure that spurs designers on toward improved blueprints. Failure-induced improvement may mean merely that lecturers can use a laser pointer in place of a yardstick, but it may also mean that physicians can turn to lifesaving diagnostic software far superior to fallible human protocols. The potential for failure manifests itself before the event to those designers blessed with prescience, but often improvements are only implemented in the wake of actual failures. From ancient Roman engineers dismayed at the failure of stone-arch bridges to twenty-first-century American architects stunned by the collapse of the Twin Towers, designers have frequently learned valuable principles through hard tutelage. Lucid and concise, this study invites nonspecialists to share in the challenge of trial-and-error engineering. Bryce Christensen
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product details

Hardcover: 256 pages
Publisher: Princeton University Press; unk edition (March 19, 2006)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0691122253
ISBN-13: 978-0691122250
Product Dimensions: 5.8 x 1 x 8.8 inches
Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 17 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,309,446 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #152 in Books > Engineering & Transportation > Engineering > Design
- #711 in Books > Engineering & Transportation > Engineering > Industrial, Manufacturing & Operational Systems > Industrial Design
- #1070 in Books > Textbooks > Engineering > Civil Engineering

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H.habilis

This is an amazingly well written and well thought out ...

July 22, 2014

Verified Purchase

This is an amazingly well written and well thought out book.

It starts with basic examples and expands each.

Each chapter develops similarly. The examples are clear. The progression is logical. The book explains the why and how to think in an organized and methodical fashion. There is also a thought in education that students and research can't fail. Very often failure is often the inspiration for future success. This book brings that idea that success can come from failure out.

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Michael Lamson

A must read for every young engineer

February 2, 2014

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Most engineers, at least at the master's level, now are exposed to Petroski's books, but if you know any young engineers who have not read them they make a marvelous graduation gift. They relate notable failures in engineering to the history and culture of their time and to the improvements that resulted from them. Some, like the Tacoma Narrows bridge, have made it to television, but the superficial and sensational treatments they receive in television programming don't compare to Petroski's thoughtful and thorough analyses.

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L.W. Brittian

Four Stars

November 26, 2017

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As advertised

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Joe Draper

Fail early, learn from failures...

August 27, 2015

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The cyclical increase and decrease of design knowledge was an Eye-opener. The complacency that builds up when minor failures happen, but no catastrophic failures occur is scary. As I watch a large amount of engineers approach retirement age in aerospace, I hope we can teach a new generation of engineers to respect the opportunity to learn from failures.

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Carolyn Thornlow

Important P.O.V.

March 29, 2012

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Petroski's expertise is clearly in engineering. Right upfront I will say that I have no engineering aspirations. Yet, I found this book to be engaging and globally relevant. That is because Petroski presents a different way of thinking. Our way of learning and seeking often looks at Success. What he points out is that "success is not simply the absence of failure; it also masks potential modes of failure." If you are planning, seeking, designing -- especially where the stakes are high -- the best advisor is Failure.
Using examples from engineering he demonstrates this. Most of the exemplar stories are interesting, though some get bogged down. I can't say that the book is a cogent masterpiece. His first chapter, a summary of a presentation he made, does not seem to fit the premise. Nonetheless, the book and it's perspective-shifting thesis is, in my opinion, extremely important.

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raphaelgich

Incredible Resource

February 20, 2011

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I'm using this book for my Intro to Structural Engineering class as an extra resource and it's really great. The story-like format and engaging anecdotes make for a pleasant read. It's also very well structured.
I'd recommend this if you also just want an abridged history of engineering design, even though you might not be one.

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Adam Saltsman

Necessary Text

June 20, 2011

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I really hate how Petroski writes; a grumpier, more curmudgeonly engineer there has never been. But it's worth it - great research and a very strong perspective make this an essential ingredient for the designer mindset.

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TeacherBizLady

Five Stars

December 19, 2014

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Failure isn't really failure

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