Henry Petroski

"Written by America's most famous engineering storyteller and educator, this abecedarian is one engineer's selection of thoughts, quotations, anecdotes, facts, trivia, and arcana relating to the practice, history, culture, and traditions of his profession. The entries reflect decades of reading. writting, talking, and thinking about engineers and engineering, and range from brief essays to lists of great engineereing achievements. This work is organized...

"Physical infrastructure in the United States is crumbling. The American Society of Civil Engineers has, in its latest report, given American roads and bridges a grade of D and C+, respectively, and has described roughly sixty-five thousand bridges in theUnited States as 'structurally deficient.' This crisis--and one need look no further than the I-35W bridge collapse in Minnesota to see that it is indeed a crisis--shows little sign of abating short...