Quotes by Henry Petroski

About Henry Petroski:

Henry Petroski is an American engineer specializing in failure analysis. A professor both of civil engineering and history at Duke University, he is also a prolific author. Petroski has written over a dozen books – beginning with To Engineer is Human: The Role of Failure in Successful Design (1985) and including a number of titles detailing the industrial design history of common, everyday objects, such as pencils, paper clips, and silverware. He is a frequent lecturer and a columnist for the magazines American Scientist and Prism. His most recently published book is To Forgive Design: Understanding Failure.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

It seems to be a law of design that for every advantage introduced through redesign, there is an accompanying unintended disadvantage.

Henry Petroski

Successful design is not the achievement of perfection but the minimization and accommodation of imperfection.

Henry Petroski

I have always been fascinated by the way things work and how they came to take the form that they did. Writing about these things satisfies my curiosity about the made world while at the same time giving me an opportunity to design a new explanation ...

Henry Petroski

We call the fates of the Titanic and the Concordia - as well as those of the space shuttles Challenger and Columbia - 'accidents.' Foreseeing such undesirable events is what engineers are expected to do. However, design trade-offs leave technological...

Henry Petroski

When something succeeds, we learn little more from it than that it did succeed. When something fails, however, we are driven to try to understand why it failed. This leads us to investigate and study the failure until we get to the heart of the matte...

Henry Petroski

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

I relax by looking at things and reading about things. Even the simplest thing can reveal a great deal about the world around us. It relaxes me greatly to sit back with my feet up and look around my study at the everyday things that surround me.

Henry Petroski

I was always told that I was good in mathematics, and I guess my grades and standardized test scores supported that. My worst subjects were those that generally involved a lot of reading - English and history. So, having good test scores in math and ...

Henry Petroski

An over-reliance on past successes is a sure blueprint for future failures.

Henry Petroski

The space shuttle was designed, at least in part, to broaden our knowledge of the universe. To scientists, the vehicle was a tool; to engineers, it was their creation.

Henry Petroski

The definition of 'safe' is not strictly an engineering term; it's a societal term. Does it mean absolutely no loss of life? Does it mean absolutely no contamination with radiation? What exactly does 'safe' mean?

Henry Petroski

We can't simply blame the engineers when things go wrong because, no matter how well they plan, things don't always go according to plan.

Henry Petroski

My first book, 'To Engineer Is Human,' was prompted by nonengineer friends asking me why so many technological accidents and failures were occurring. If engineers knew what they were doing, why did bridges and buildings fall down? It was a question t...

Henry Petroski

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

Henry Petroski

Luxury, not necessity, is the mother of invention. Every artifact is somewhat wanting in its function, and that is what drives its evolution.

Henry Petroski

There's so much written about the Titanic, and it's hard to separate what's fact and what's fiction. My understanding is that the way the Titanic was designed, the emphasis was placed on surviving a head-on collision.

Henry Petroski

If I could go upstairs and write every day, I would be happy. I don't need recreation.

Henry Petroski

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

Henry Petroski

The same aspirations to celebrate and uplift the spirit that drove the Egyptians to build the pyramids are still driving us. The things we're doing differ only in magnitude.

Henry Petroski

Read and write with a sensitive ear. The craft of writing is very important. Practice the craft.

Henry Petroski

As long as there are things to wonder about, there are stories to be written about them. That makes me happy, because writing about things seems to be my thing.

Henry Petroski

Author Bio

  • NameHenry Petroski
  • DescriptionAmerican Professor and Author
  • BornFebruary 6, 1942
  • CountryUnited States Of America
  • ProfessionCivil Engineer; Engineer
  • AwardsGuggenheim Fellowship