Invention by design
Subtitle: how engineers get from thought to thing
By: Henry Petroski.
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Published: 1996
Place of publication: Cambridge, Mass
Language: eng
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 242
ISBN-13: 9780674463677
Subjects: Engineering design -- Social aspects; Engineering design -- Political aspects; Engineering design -- Case studies
Description: Engineering entails more than knowing the way things work. What do economics and ecology, aesthetics and ethics, have to do with the shape of a paper clip, the tab of a beverage can, the cabin design of a turbojet, or the course of a river? How do the idiosyncrasies of individual engineers, companies, and communities leave their mark on projects from Velcro to fax machines to waterworks?

Invention by Design offers an insider's look at these political and cultural dimensions of design and development, production and construction.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 217-228) and index.
Table of contents: title: Introduction; title: Paper clips and design; title: Pencil points and analysis; title: Zippers and development; title: Aluminum cans and failure; title: Facsimile and networks; title: Airplanes and computers; title: Water and society --Bridges and politics; title: Buildings and systems