Success through Failure: The Paradox of Design
Author: Henry Petroski
Edition: First
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Pages: 256
Price: £11.50
ISBN 9780691136424
Petroski shows that making something better - by carefully anticipating and thus averting failure - is what invention and design are all about. He explores the nature of invention and the character of the inventor through an unprecedented range of both everyday and extraordinary examples: illustrated lectures, child-resistant packaging for drugs, national constitutions, medical devices, the world's tallest skyscrapers, long-span bridges and more.
Who is it for? Undergraduate and postgraduate students of civil engineering, architecture and other construction-related disciplines.
Presentation: User-friendly and logical with illustrations as appropriate; a very pleasant and informative read.
Would I recommend it? Yes, definitely, as complementary general reading for students on the aforementioned courses.