To Engineer Is Human: The Role of Failure in Successful Design

· Tantor Media Inc · Narrated by Matthew Boston
3.7
3 reviews
Audiobook
8 hr 34 min
Unabridged
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About this audiobook

How did a simple design error cause one of the great disasters of the 1980s-the collapse of the walkways at the Kansas City Hyatt Regency Hotel? What made the graceful and innovative Tacoma Narrows Bridge twist apart in a mild wind in 1940? How did an oversized waterlily inspire the magnificent Crystal Palace, the crowning achievement of Victorian architecture and engineering? These are some of the failures and successes that Henry Petroski, author of the acclaimed The Pencil, examines in this engaging, wonderfully literate book. More than a series of fascinating case studies, To Engineer Is Human is a work that looks at our deepest notions of progress and perfection, tracing the fine connection between the quantifiable realm of science and the chaotic realities of everyday life.

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3.7
3 reviews

About the author

Henry Petroski is the author of twenty nonfiction trade books, including The Pencil and The Evolution of Useful Things, which consider the invention, design, and cultural significance of common objects. He is a distinguished professor emeritus at Duke University.

New York-based actor Matthew Boston has over thirty years of professional experience working in theater, film, television, and voice-over. He received his training from the Mason Gross School of the Arts, Shakespeare & Company, and the Lee Strasberg Institute.

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Narrated by Matthew Boston