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

Petroski tells fascinating stories about the arduous processes that resulted in paper clips, Post-its, Phillips-head screwdrivers, Scotch tape, and...more
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Showing 6 of 6 reviews
few weeks ago
Great book by a Duke civil engineering professor. "Form follows failure" is a brilliant insight that always seems to have relevance.
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few weeks ago
nerdy but cool... if you want to know how we got the things we use every day...
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few weeks ago
Great book for those fascinated in the trivial. Explains how, among other things, the fork, the paperclip, and the zipper came to be. For the geek that loves trivia about everyday items. Explains the evolution of the paperclip, the zipper, the fork, and more.
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few weeks ago
dry reading but still interesting.
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few weeks ago
The topic seems like it should be interesting, but it's just not. Very boring. I gave up.
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few weeks ago
Henry Petroski writes an indepth look at how everyday items evolve. He thesis, which he rarely tires of repeating, is that the form of an object follows its failure. He rejects the saying “form follows function” as being quaint and incomplete. He uses numerous examples of the evolution of the paperclip, fork, scotch tape and other common items to illustrate that objects change not due to far...more
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Editions
  • ISBN-10: 0679412263
  • ISBN-13: 9780679412267
  • ISBN-10: 1857931041
  • ISBN-13: 9781857931044
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