Success through Failure: The Paradox of Design (Princeton Science Library) Paperback – May 29, 2018

Most engineers, at least at the master's level, now are exposed to Petroski's books, but if you know any young engineers who have not read them they make a marvelous graduation gift. They relate notable failures in engineering to the history and culture of their time and to the improvements that resulted from them. Some, like the Tacoma Narrows bridge, have made it to television, but the superficial and sensational treatments they receive in television programming don't compare to Petroski's thoughtful and thorough analyses.

Petroski's expertise is clearly in engineering. Right upfront I will say that I have no engineering aspirations. Yet, I found this book to be engaging and globally relevant. That is because Petroski presents a different way of thinking. Our way of learning and seeking often looks at Success. What he points out is that "success is not simply the absence of failure; it also masks potential modes of failure." If you are planning, seeking, designing -- especially where the stakes are high -- the best advisor is Failure.Using examples from engineering he demonstrates this. Most of the exemplar stories are interesting, though some get bogged down. I can't say that the book is a cogent masterpiece. His first chapter, a summary of a presentation he made, does not seem to fit the premise. Nonetheless, the book and it's perspective-shifting thesis is, in my opinion, extremely important.

I'm using this book for my Intro to Structural Engineering class as an extra resource and it's really great. The story-like format and engaging anecdotes make for a pleasant read. It's also very well structured.I'd recommend this if you also just want an abridged history of engineering design, even though you might not be one.

Failure isn't really failure

Fact-based analysis of how we can learn from past failures. A good lesson with good examples but the book is a little slow in places.

Te only way to rate a book is to produce a review. Further, this is a book on "engineering". I don't consider myself enough of an engineer to do that. A statement on the experience of buying this item from Amazon is an entirely different matter. As always a product was chosen, purchased and delivered by Amazon. That has always been a pleasant thing. They continue to do it right.

I found this book (the portion that I have read so far) to be quite repetitive and he seems to repeat himself and sometimes the same thing is written more than once in with a different sentence structure. Okay, not quite that bad, but it is not an easy read for me. As an engineer, I understand that most engineers can't write. Mr. Petroski does nothing to change that stereotype in my opinion. As I stated above, I have not read the entire book. I will try to do so, and will update my review if it is warranted.

I really hate how Petroski writes; a grumpier, more curmudgeonly engineer there has never been. But it's worth it - great research and a very strong perspective make this an essential ingredient for the designer mindset.