Porchlight Business Book Awards season is here.

To Engineer is Human The Role of Failure in Successful Design

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

By Henry Petroski

"Originally published in hardcover, in somewhat different form, by St. Martin's Press...in 1985"--T.p. verso.

READ FULL DESCRIPTION

Quantity Price Discount
List Price $18.00  
1 - 24 $15.30 15%
25 - 99 $12.60 30%
100 - 499 $11.70 35%
500 + $11.34 37%

Quick Quote

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit

Non-returnable discount pricing

$18.00


Book Information

Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group.
Publish Date: 03/31/1992
Pages: 274
ISBN-13: 9780679734161
ISBN-10: 0679734163
Language: Eng

What We're Saying

December 23, 2008

We're keeping it is real as we can over on InBubbleWrap, giving away books, sharing some stories, giving away books, trying to make you laugh and cry and fall in love with us. . . READ FULL DESCRIPTION

April 21, 2009

Tune in as Todd Sattersten interviews Henry Petroski about his book To Engineer is Human. Petroski discusses the role of failure in creativity and innovation and how success is found in the process. Henry Petroski's book is one of the books in Jack and Todd's book The 100 Best Business Books of All Time. READ FULL DESCRIPTION

February 06, 2009

Today is the Day

By Porchlight

Jack and I have been working on an idea for about two years. We thought it made sense to put our knowledge about business books into a book of our own. Today, The 100 Best Business Books of All Time was released by our wonderful friends at Portfolio. READ FULL DESCRIPTION

January 11, 2011

In another installment from the annual review of business books we produced last year, we have an article from friend and former president of the company, Todd Sattersten. In it, he discusses the meta-themes in business thought that he and Jack uncovered as they spent 18 months compiling, reading, choosing and writing The 100 Best Business Books of All Time. ◊◊◊◊◊◊◊◊◊◊◊◊◊◊◊◊◊◊ The Five Universal Themes in Business BY TODD SATTERSTEN What happens when you spend 18 months reading the best in business literature? READ FULL DESCRIPTION

December 21, 2015

Here’s what our staff is giving this holiday season. READ FULL DESCRIPTION

Full Description

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.

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.

Learn More

We have updated our privacy policy. Click here to read our full policy.