The Evolution of Useful Things: How Everyday Artifacts-From Forks and Pins to Paper Clips and Zippers-Came to be as They are. - Couverture souple

Petroski, Henry

Couverture souple

ISBN 10 : 0679740392 ISBN 13 : 9780679740391

Editeur : Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 1994

Synopsis

   How did the table fork acquire a fourth tine?  What advantage does the Phillips-head screw have over its single-grooved predecessor? Why does the paper clip look the way it does? What makes Scotch tape Scotch?

   In this delightful book Henry, Petroski takes a microscopic look at artifacts that most of us count on but rarely contemplate, including such icons of the everyday as pins, Post-its, and fast-food "clamshell" containers.  At the same time, he offers a convincing new theory of technological innovation as a response to the perceived failures of existing products—suggesting that irritation, and not necessity, is the mother of invention.

A propos du livre

À propos de l'auteur

Henry Petroski is the Aleksandar S. Vesic Professor of Civil Engineering and a professor of history at Duke University. The author of more than a dozen previous books, he lives in Durham, North Carolina, and Arrowsic, Maine.

Détails de l'édition

• Éditeur: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
• Date d'édition: 1994
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN 10: 0679740392
• ISBN 13: 9780679740391
• Reliure: Broché
• Nombre de pages: 304
• Coordonnées du fabricant: non disponible
• Personne responsable: non disponible