All conventional wisdom has an element of truth to it, but good design requires more than an element of truth - it requires an ensemble of correct assumptions and valid calculations.

Next quotes

• Henry Petroski:

  I emphasize that virtually every engineering calculation is ultimately a failure calculation, becau

• Henry Petroski:

  I employ case studies of failure into my courses, emphasizing that they teach us much more than stu

• Henry Petroski:

  Case studies of failure should be made a part of the vocabulary of every engineer so that he or she

• Henry Petroski:

  Any design, whether it's for a ship or an airplane, must be done in anticipation of potential failu

• Henry Petroski:

  There's so much written about the Titanic, and it's hard to separate what's fact and what's fiction

• Henry Petroski:

  The paradox is that when we model future designs on past successes, we are inviting failure down th

• Henry Petroski:

  I have always been fascinated by the way things work and how they came to take the form that they d

• Henry Petroski:

  I relax by looking at things and reading about things. Even the simplest thing can reveal a great d

• Henry Petroski:

  I was always told that I was good in mathematics, and I guess my grades and standardized test score

• Henry Petroski:

  I'm a firm believer that no matter how small an object is, you can find interesting things out abou