Tertulia Logo
Sign upLog In
Cart Icon0
Cart Icon0
The co-op bookstore for avid readers
Book Cover for: The Evolution of Useful Things: How Everyday Artifacts-From Forks and Pins to Paper Clips and Zippers-Came to Beas They Are., Henry Petroski

The Evolution of Useful Things: How Everyday Artifacts-From Forks and Pins to Paper Clips and Zippers-Came to Beas They Are.

Henry Petroski

Paperback
Regular price$17.00With free membership trial$8.5050% off your first book+ Free shipping
Currently out of stock. Place a backorder.

Do you recommend this book?

Yes!

No

Only Henry Petroski, author of The Pencil, could make one never pick up a paper clip again without being overcome with feelings of awe and reverence. In his new book the author examines a host of techno-trivia questions - how the fork got its tines, why Scotch tape is called that, how the paper clip evolved, how the Post-it note came to be, how the zipper was named, why aluminum cans have hollow bottoms - and provides us with answers that both astonish and challenge the imagination. In addition to an extended discussion of knives, forks, spoons, and other common devices, the author explains how the interplay of social and technical factors affects the development and use of such things as plastic bags, fast-food packaging, push-button telephones, and other modern conveniences. Throughout the book familiar objects serve to illustrate the general principles behind the evolution of all products of invention and engineering. Petroski shows, by way of these examples as well as a probing look at the patent process, that the single most important driving force behind technological change is the failure of existing devices to live up to their promise. As shortcomings become evident and articulated, new and "improved" versions of artifacts come into being through long and involved processes variously known as research and development, invention, and engineering. He further demonstrates how the evolving forms of technology generally are altered by our very use of them, and how they, in turn, alter our social and cultural behavior. In this wonderful mixture of history, biography, and design theory, Henry Petroski brings us to an understanding of an essential question: By what mechanism do theshapes and forms of our made world come to be?

Book Details

  • Publisher: Vintage
  • Publish Date: Feb 1st, 1994
  • Pages: 304
  • Language: English
  • Edition: undefined - undefined
  • Dimensions: 7.96in - 5.24in - 0.65in - 0.48lb
  • EAN: 9780679740391
  • Categories: • Engineering (General)• Experiments & Projects• World - General

More books to explore

Book Cover for: VHDL by Example, Blaine Readler
Book Cover for: Verilog by Example: A Concise Introduction for FPGA Design, Blaine Readler
Book Cover for: Life 3.0: Being Human in the Age of Artificial Intelligence, Max Tegmark
Book Cover for: Maker of Patterns: An Autobiography Through Letters, Freeman Dyson
Book Cover for: Nuts and Bolts: Seven Small Inventions That Changed the World in a Big Way, Roma Agrawal
Book Cover for: Feynman's Rainbow: A Search for Beauty in Physics and in Life, Leonard Mlodinow
Book Cover for: Beyond Genius: A Journey Through the Characteristics and Legacies of Transformative Minds, Bulent Atalay

About the Author

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.

More books by Henry Petroski

Book Cover for: To Engineer is Human: The Role of Failure in Successful Design, Henry Petroski
Book Cover for: Success Through Failure: The Paradox of Design, Henry Petroski
Book Cover for: The Pencil: A History of Design and Circumstance, Henry Petroski
Book Cover for: Invention by Design: How Engineers Get from Thought to Thing, Henry Petroski
Book Cover for: Force: What It Means to Push and Pull, Slip and Grip, Start and Stop, Henry Petroski
Book Cover for: An Engineer's Alphabet, Henry Petroski
Book Cover for: To Forgive Design: Understanding Failure, Henry Petroski
Book Cover for: Engineers of Dreams: Great Bridge Builders and the Spanning of America, Henry Petroski
Book Cover for: The Essential Engineer: Why Science Alone Will Not Solve Our Global Problems, Henry Petroski
Book Cover for: The Book on the Bookshelf, Henry Petroski
Book Cover for: Design Paradigms: Case Histories of Error and Judgment in Engineering, Henry Petroski
Book Cover for: Small Things Considered: Why There Is No Perfect Design, Henry Petroski
Book Cover for: The Toothpick: Technology and Culture, Henry Petroski
Book Cover for: Remaking the World: Adventures in Engineering, Henry Petroski
Book Cover for: The House with Sixteen Handmade Doors: A Tale of Architectural Choice and Craftsmanship, Henry Petroski
Book Cover for: Pushing the Limits: New Adventures in Engineering, Henry Petroski

What people are saying

Praise for this book

"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

What people are saying

See more