To engineer is human : the role of failure in successful design /
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 innovating Tacoma Narrows Bridge twist apart in a mild wind in 1940? How did an oversize waterlily inspire the magnificent Crys...
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| Format: | Book |
| Language: | English |
| Language Notes: | English. |
| Published: |
New York :
Vintage Books,
1992.
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| Edition: | 1st Vintage books ed. |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | Table of contents |
| Summary: | 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 innovating Tacoma Narrows Bridge twist apart in a mild wind in 1940? How did an oversize waterlily inspire the magnificent Crystal Palace, the crowning achievement of Victorian architecture and engineering? These are some of the failures and successes that Petroski examines in this book, 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.--From publisher description. |
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| Item Description: | Originally published: New York : St. Martin's Press, 1985. |
| Physical Description: | ix, 251 pages, 8 leaves of plates : illustrations ; 21 cm Also issued online. |
| Bibliography: | Includes bibliographical references (pages 233-244) and index. |
| ISBN: | 0679734163 9780679734161 |