Remaking the World: Adventures in Engineering

I've been a fan of Henry Petroski for a long time, and this book is no exception. Remaking the World is a collection of essays, most of which originally appeared in American Scientist, the bimonthly magazine of Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society. Petroski's usual engaging style and thorough research is used to tell us the story of a variety of structures, people, and concepts. And even though I'm a professional engineer, I knew hardly any of these stories already. There's a piece about the Channel Tunnel and the over 2 century (!) history of proposals, politics, and arguments, up to its eventual completion. There is one about the Nobel Prize, which was funded and conceived by an engineer, and yet today tends to reward "pure" scientists. There's one about Henry Martyn Robert, an engineer in the Core of Engineering, and his best-known work, which is not a piece of civil engineering, but Robert's Rules of Order. And there's one called "On the Backs of Envelopes" that explores this common way for engineers to begin working on a problem. Petroski includes enough detail and technology to keep a technical person engaged, and yet explains clearly and keeps things simple so that someone less technical can enjoy him too. One can see how he can be both a professor of Civil Engineering and of History. Recommended for anyone who is curious about engineers and engineering.

This is a fine tome about engineering for those of us who scraped thru algebra! Should be required reading for *every* high school student. It gives a lot of basic information in understandable writing. Such as how did radio get to where it is today. Because of yacht racing... Now if that doesn't tease the brain, I don't know what else will...

Petroski has again assembled a great collection of stories that illustrate engineering themes. As much about engineers as engineering. Recommended to engineers who want to know more about thier craft.