It seems to be a law of design that for every advantage introduced through redesign, there is an accompanying unintended disadvantage. Henry Petroski Read Quote
Many of the familiar little things that we use every day have typically evolved over a period of time to a state of familiarity. They balance form and function, elegance and economy, success and failure in ways that are not only acceptable, but also admirable. Henry Petroski Read Quote
Because they are so humbled by their creations, engineers are naturally conservative in their expectations of technology. They know that the perfect system is the stuff of science fiction, not of engineering fact, and so everything must be treated with respect. Henry Petroski Read Quote
The space shuttle was designed, at least in part, to broaden our knowledge of the universe. To scientists, the vehicle was a tool; to engineers, it was their creation. Henry Petroski Read Quote
Too much redesign has to do more with fad and fashion than with fitness and function. It is change for the sake of change. Such redesign is not only unnecessary, it is all too often also retrogressive, leading to things that work less effectively than those they were designed to replace. Henry Petroski Read Quote
We call the fates of the Titanic and the Concordia – as well as those of the space shuttles Challenger and Columbia – ‘accidents.’ Foreseeing such undesirable events is what engineers are expected to do. However, design trade-offs leave technological systems open to failings once predicted, but later forgotten. Henry Petroski Read Quote
As long as there are things to wonder about, there are stories to be written about them. That makes me happy, because writing about things seems to be my thing. Henry Petroski Read Quote
I relax by looking at things and reading about things. Even the simplest thing can reveal a great deal about the world around us. It relaxes me greatly to sit back with my feet up and look around my study at the everyday things that surround me. Henry Petroski Read Quote
I was always told that I was good in mathematics, and I guess my grades and standardized test scores supported that. My worst subjects were those that generally involved a lot of reading – English and history. So, having good test scores in math and mediocre ones in reading, I was naturally advised to major in engineering in college. Henry Petroski Read Quote
I emphasize that virtually every engineering calculation is ultimately a failure calculation, because without a failure criterion against which to measure the calculated result, it is a meaningless number. Henry Petroski Read Quote
