Henry Petroski - Definition

Henry Petroski (born 1942) is a civil engineering professor at Duke University, where he specializes in failure analysis. He is a prolific author, having written nearly one dozen books, most notably To Engineer is Human: The Role of Failure in Successful Design (1985) and a number of books detailing the design history of a multitude of common, everyday objects, such as silverware, pencils, and paper clips. He is a frequent lecturer, and a weekly contributor to American Scientist.

Petroski was born in Brooklyn, New York, and in 1963, he received his bachelor's degree from Manhattan College. He graduated with his Ph.D. in Theoretical and Applied Mechanics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1968. Before beginning his work at Duke in 1980, he worked at the University of Texas from 1968-1974 and for the Argonne National Laboratory from 1975-1980. Petroski has received honorary degrees from Clarkson University, Trinity College, Valparaiso University and Manhattan College. He is a registered professional engineer in Texas, a Fellow of the American Society of Civil Engineers, and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering.

Books

• To Engineer Is Human: The Role of Failure in Successful Design (1985)
• The Pencil: A History of Design and Circumstance (1990)
• The Evolution of Useful Things (1992)
• Design Paradigms: Case Histories of Error and Judgment in Engineering (1994)
• Engineers of Dreams: Great Bridge Builders and The Spanning of America (1995)
• Invention by Design: How Engineers Get from Thought to Thing (1996)
• Remaking the World: Adventures in Engineering (1997)
• The Book on the Bookshelf (1999)
• Paperboy: Confessions of a Future engineer (2002)
• Small Things Considered: Why There Is No Perfect Design (2003)
• Pushing the Limits: More Adventures in Engineering (2004)

External links

• Duke Civil Engineering Faculty Website (http://www.cee.duke.edu/faculty/petroski/index.php)
• Prism Magazine Article (http://www.prism-magazine.org/feb00/html/poet.cfm)