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" It is really want, rather than need, that drives the process of technological evolution. "
Henry Petroski
Want
Need
Evolution
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" 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
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" 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
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" 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
Knowledge
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Space
" Indeed, an engineer designing a structure is not unlike an artist painting one. Both start with nothing but talent, experience, and inspiration. The fresh piece of paper on the drawing board is as blank as the newly stretched piece of canvas. "
Henry Petroski
Experience
Painting
Start
" 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
Loss
Safe
Engineering
" Although engineers want always to make everything better, they cannot make anything perfect. This basic characteristic flaw of the products of the profession's practitioners is what drives change and makes achievement a process rather than simply a goal. "
Henry Petroski
Process
Perfect
Change
" Failures are much more dramatic than successes, and people like drama. I think this is why automobile races draw such crowds. People expect spectacular crashes, which we tend to find more interesting than cars just racing around the track. The same is true of bridges, buildings, or any structure or machine. "
Henry Petroski
Think
True
People
" Because every design must satisfy competing objectives, there necessarily has to be compromise among, if not the complete exclusion of, some of those objectives, in order to meet what are considered the more important of them. "
Henry Petroski
Important
Design
Compromise
" Typically, highway bridges have about 50 years. But over in England, they have iron bridges approaching 250 years. In France, there are Roman aqueducts that are approaching 2,000 years old. So a bridge can last a very long time if it's built properly in the first place and then maintained properly. "
Henry Petroski
Bridge
Bridges
Iron
" 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 that I had often asked myself, and I had no easy answer. "
Henry Petroski
Bridges
Me
Fall
" Successful design is not the achievement of perfection but the minimization and accommodation of imperfection. "
Henry Petroski
Imperfection
Perfection
Achievement
" A common misconception about how things such as space shuttles come to be is that engineers simply apply the theories and equations of science. But this cannot be done until the new thing-to-be is conceived in the engineer's mind's eye. Rather than following from science, engineered things lead it. "
Henry Petroski
Science
Mind
Done
" For as long as I can remember, I have been fascinated by things large and small. I wanted to know what made my watch tick, my radio play, and my house stand. I wanted to know who invented the bottle cap and who designed the bridge. I guess from early on I wanted to be an engineer. "
Henry Petroski
Stand
Bridge
Long
" I emphasize that virtually every engineering calculation is ultimately a failure calculation, because without a failure criterion against which to measure the calculated result, it is a meaningless number. "
Henry Petroski
Engineering
Failure
Measure
" Because they are so humbled by their creations, engineers are naturally conservative in their expectations of technology. They know that the perfect system is the stuff of science fiction, not of engineering fact, and so everything must be treated with respect. "
Henry Petroski
Respect
Technology
Science
" The paradox is that when we model future designs on past successes, we are inviting failure down the line; when we take into account past failures and anticipate potential new ways in which failure can occur, we are more likely to produce successful designs. "
Henry Petroski
Down
Failure
Future
" Design is nothing if not decision making. "
Henry Petroski
Decision
Nothing
Design
" No design, no matter how common or seemingly insignificant, is without its adamant critics as well as its ardent admirers. "
Henry Petroski
Critics
Well
Matter
" 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 systems open to failings once predicted, but later forgotten. "
Henry Petroski
Engineers
Design
Space
" Betting on the success of innovative technologies in the marketplace can carry all the uncertainty and risk that betting on the next card in the deck does at a blackjack table in Las Vegas. There is a factor of randomness that must be factored in, but precisely how to do so is anyone's guess. "
Henry Petroski
Uncertainty
Risk
Success
" Engineering is achieving function while avoiding failure. "
Henry Petroski
Engineering
Achieving
Failure
" Companies selling a product play down its vulnerability and emphasize its robustness. But only after technology leaves the dock is it really tested. For human operators in control of a supposedly infallible system, complacency and overconfidence can take over, and caution may be thrown to the wind. "
Henry Petroski
Wind
Technology
Complacency
" Read and write with a sensitive ear. The craft of writing is very important. Practice the craft. "
Henry Petroski
Ear
Craft
Important
" I employ case studies of failure into my courses, emphasizing that they teach us much more than studies of success. It is not that success stories cannot serve as models of good design or as exemplars of creative engineering. They can do that, but they cannot teach us how close to failure they are. "
Henry Petroski
Good
Success
Failure
" Any design, whether it's for a ship or an airplane, must be done in anticipation of potential failures. "
Henry Petroski
Ship
Design
Done
" Many new technologies come with a promise to change the world, but the world refuses to cooperate. "
Henry Petroski
New
Change The World
Change
" I'm a firm believer that no matter how small an object is, you can find interesting things out about it and its history. "
Henry Petroski
Find
History
Interesting
" Relying on nothing but scientific knowledge to produce an engineering solution is to invite frustration at best and failure at worst. "
Henry Petroski
Frustration
Knowledge
Failure
" Successful engineering is all about understanding how things break or fail. "
Henry Petroski
Successful
Understanding
Engineering
" 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
Matter
Plan
Always