Successful engineering is all about understanding how things break or fail. — Henry Petroski Copy Share Image
Any design, whether its for a ship or an airplane, must be done in anticipation of potential failures. — Henry Petroski Copy Share Image
Relying on nothing but scientific knowledge to produce an engineering solution is to invite frustration at best and failure at worst. — Henry Petroski Copy Share Image
Any design, whether it's for a ship or an airplane, must be done in anticipation of potential failures. — Henry Petroski Copy Share Image
No one wants to learn from mistakes, but we cannot learn enough from successes to go beyond the state of the art. — Henry Petroski Copy Share Image
Everything we do is designed, whether we're producing a magazine, a website, or a bridge. Design is really the creative invention that… — Henry Petroski Copy Share Image
As engineers, we were going to be in a position to change the world - not just study it. — Henry Petroski Copy Share Image
Failure is Central to engineering. Every single calculation that an engineer makes is a failure calculation. — Henry Petroski Copy Share Image
Successful design is not the achievement of perfection but the minimization and accommodation of imperfection. — Henry Petroski Copy Share Image
A common misconception about how things such as space shuttles come to be is that engineers simply apply the theories and equations… — Henry Petroski Copy Share Image
For as long as I can remember, I have been fascinated by things large and small. I wanted to know what made… — Henry Petroski Copy Share Image
What is commonly overlooked in using the computer is the fact that the central goal of design is still to obviate failure,… — Henry Petroski Copy Share Image
Although engineers want always to make everything better, they cannot make anything perfect. This basic characteristic flaw of the products of the… — Henry Petroski Copy Share Image
My first book, 'To Engineer Is Human,' was prompted by nonengineer friends asking me why so many technological accidents and failures were… — Henry Petroski Copy Share Image
Engineering, like poetry, is an attempt to approach perfection. And engineers, like poets, are seldom completely satisfied with their creations. They notice,… — Henry Petroski Copy Share Image
Indeed, an engineer designing a structure is not unlike an artist painting one. Both start with nothing but talent, experience, and inspiration.… — Henry Petroski Copy Share Image
Failure is central to engineering. Every single calculation that an engineer makes is a failure calculation. Successful engineering is all about understanding… — Henry Petroski Copy Share Image
“Greatest engineering achievements of 20th century ranked by National Academy of Engineering: 1. Electrification 2. Automobile 3. Airplane 4. Water supply and… — Henry Petroski Copy Share Image
I was always told that I was good in mathematics, and I guess my grades and standardized test scores supported that. My… — Henry Petroski Copy Share Image
Engineers are not superhuman. They make mistakes in their assumptions, in their calculations, in their conclusions. That they make mistakes is forgivable;… — Henry Petroski Copy Share Image
“In order to understand how engineers endeavor to insure against such structural, mechanical, and systems failures, and thereby also to understand how… — Henry Petroski Copy Share Image
The definition of 'safe' is not strictly an engineering term; it's a societal term. Does it mean absolutely no loss of life?… — Henry Petroski Copy Share Image
I employ case studies of failure into my courses, emphasizing that they teach us much more than studies of success. It is… — Henry Petroski Copy Share Image
A failed structure provides a counterexample to a hypothesis and shows us incontrovertibly what cannot be done, while a structure that stands… — Henry Petroski Copy Share Image
I emphasize that virtually every engineering calculation is ultimately a failure calculation, because without a failure criterion against which to measure the… — Henry Petroski Copy Share Image
Because they are so humbled by their creations, engineers are naturally conservative in their expectations of technology. They know that the perfect… — Henry Petroski Copy Share Image
All conventional wisdom has an element of truth to it, but good design requires more than an element of truth - it requires an… — Henry Petroski Copy Share
It is really want, rather than need, that drives the process of technological evolution. — Henry Petroski Copy Share
A failed structure provides a counterexample to a hypothesis and shows us incontrovertibly what cannot be done, while a structure that stands without incident… — Henry Petroski Copy Share
Everything we do is designed, whether we're producing a magazine, a website, or a bridge. Design is really the creative invention that designs everything. — Henry Petroski Copy Share
I employ case studies of failure into my courses, emphasizing that they teach us much more than studies of success. It is not that… — Henry Petroski Copy Share
Whether or not science can be applied to that mental construct [i.e. the designed entity] is a matter of availability. If there is body… — Henry Petroski Copy Share
Failures are much more dramatic than successes, and people like drama. I think this is why automobile races draw such crowds. People expect spectacular… — Henry Petroski Copy Share
The most amazing achievement of the computer software industry is its continuing cancellation of the steady and staggering gains made by the computer hardware… — Henry Petroski Copy Share
For as long as I can remember, I have been fascinated by things large and small. I wanted to know what made my watch… — Henry Petroski Copy Share
Successful engineering is all about understanding how things break or fail. — Henry Petroski Copy Share
The space shuttle was designed, at least in part, to broaden our knowledge of the universe. To scientists, the vehicle was a tool; to… — Henry Petroski Copy Share
Because they are so humbled by their creations, engineers are naturally conservative in their expectations of technology. They know that the perfect system is… — Henry Petroski Copy Share
An over-reliance on past successes is a sure blueprint for future failures. — Henry Petroski Copy Share
I was always told that I was good in mathematics, and I guess my grades and standardized test scores supported that. My worst subjects… — Henry Petroski Copy Share
