Accomplish Quote by Henry Petroski

“It has been said, by engineers themselves, that given enough money, they can accomplish virtually anything: send men to the moon, dig a tunnel under the English Channel. There's no reason they couldn't likewise devise ways to protect infrastructure from the worst hurricanes, earthquakes and other calamities, natural and manmade.”

Henry Petroski

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ 2.7 out of 5 (4 ratings)

More by Henry Petroski

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

Image

It is really want, rather than need, that drives the process of technological evolution.

Henry Petroski

Image

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

Image

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

Image

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

Image

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

Image

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

Image

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

Image

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

Image

Successful engineering is all about understanding how things break or fail.

Henry Petroski

Image

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

Image

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