Henry Petroski

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Henry Petroski

Born 1942
Brooklyn, New York
Occupation Professor and author
Spouse Catherine

Henry Petroski (born 1942) is an American civil engineering professor at Duke University where he specializes in failure analysis. He is a prolific author, having written a dozen books - most notably To Engineer is Human: The Role of Failure in Successful Design (1985) - including a number of titles detailing the industrial design history of common, everyday objects, such as pencils, paper clips, and silverware. He is a frequent lecturer, and a contributor to the magazine American Scientist.

Contents

[edit] Biography

Petroski was born in Brooklyn, New York, and in 1963, he received his bachelor's degree from Manhattan College. He graduated with his Ph.D. in Theoretical and Applied Mechanics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1968. Before beginning his work at Duke in 1980, he worked at the University of Texas at Austin from 1968-74 and for the Argonne National Laboratory from 1975-80.

He has received honorary degrees from Clarkson University, Trinity College, Valparaiso University and Manhattan College. He is a registered professional engineer in Texas, a Fellow of the American Society of Civil Engineers, and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering.

In 2004, he was appointed to the United States Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board [1].

Henry Petroski is the Aleksandar S. Vesic professor of civil engineering and a professor of history at Duke University. He is the author of a dozen books on engineering and design, the latest of which is The Toothpick: Technology and Culture.

[edit] Works

[edit] Books

  • The Toothpick: Technology and Culture. (2007)
  • Success Through Failure: The Paradox of Design. (2006)
  • Pushing the Limits: New Adventures in Engineering (2004)
  • Small Things Considered: Why There Is No Perfect Design (2003)
  • Paperboy: Confessions of a Future engineer (2002)
  • The Book on the Bookshelf (1999)
  • Remaking the World: Adventures in Engineering (1997)
  • Invention by Design: How Engineers Get from Thought to Thing (1996)
  • Engineers of Dreams: Great Bridge Builders and The Spanning of America (1995)
  • Design Paradigms: Case Histories of Error and Judgment in Engineering (1994)
  • The Evolution of Useful Things (1992)
  • The Pencil: A History of Design and Circumstance (1990)
  • Beyond Engineering: Essays and Other Attempts to Figure without Equations (1986)
  • To Engineer Is Human: The Role of Failure in Successful Design (1985)

[edit] Recent Articles

  • "Engineering: Scientific Status," in Modern Scientific Evidence, 2002, vol. 3, part 3, pp. 14-54.
  • "The Origins, Founding, and Early Years of the American Society of Civil Engineers: A Case Study in Successful Failure Analysis," in American Civil Engineering History: The Pioneering Years, B. G. Dennis, Jr., et al., editors, Proceedings of the Fourth National Congress on Civil Engineering History and Heritage , ASCE Annual Meeting, November 2-6, 2002, pp. 57-66.
  • The Importance of Engineering History," International Engineering History and Heritage: Improving Bridges to ASCE's 150th Anniversary, Jerry R. Rogers and Augustine J. Fredrich, editors. History Congress proceedings, American Society of Civil Engineers, Houston, Texas, October 2001, pp. 1-7.
  • "Reference Guide on Engineering Practice and Methods," in Reference Manual on Scientific Evidence, 2nd edition, Washington, D.C.: Federal Judicial Center, 2000. pp. 577-624.
  • "The Britannia Tubular Bridge: A Paradigm of Failure-Driven Design," reprinted in Structural and Civil Engineering Design, William Addis, ed. Aldershot, Hampshire: Ashgate Publishing Ltd., 1999, pp. 313-324.
  • "Polishing the Gem: A First-Year Design Project," Journal of Engineering Education, October 1998, pp. 445-449.
  • "Drink Me, How Americans came to have cup holders in their cars", Slate Magazine, Posted Monday, March 15, 2004, at 11:36 AM ET, (http://www.slate.com/id/2096958/).
  • "Stick Figure, The marketing genius who brought us the toothpick", Slate Magazine, Posted Wednesday, Oct. 31, 2007, at 4:28 PM ET, (http://www.slate.com/id/2177109/).

[edit] Honors and Awards

  • Pratt School of Engineering Alumni Council Distinguished Service Award (2007)[2]
  • Washington Award (2006)[3][4]
  • Tau Beta Pi, Eminent Engineer (2003)
  • American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Fellow (2003)
  • Honorary Doctor of Pedagogy Degree, Manhattan College (2003)
  • Honorary Member, The Moles (2002)
  • Fellow, The Institution of Engineers of Ireland (2000)
  • Honorary Doctor of Science degree, Valparaiso University (1999)
  • Eminent Speaker, Institution of Engineers, Australia, Structural College (1998)
  • Tetelman Fellow, Jonathan Edwards College, Yale University (1998)
  • Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree, Trinity College (Hartford, Conn.) (1997)
  • Member, National Academy of Engineering, inducted 1997
  • Orthogonal Medal, Graphic Communications Faculty, North Carolina State University (1996)
  • Fellow, American Society of Civil Engineers (1996)
  • Alumni Honor Award for Distinguished Service in Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (1994)
  • Civil Engineering History and Heritage Award, American Society of Civil Engineers (1993)
  • Outstanding Graduate, School of Engineering Centennial Award, Manhattan College (1992)
  • National Lecturer, Sigma Xi (1991-93)
  • Ralph Coats Roe Medal, American Society of Mechanical Engineers (1991)
  • Fellow, John Simon Guggenheim Foundation (1990-91)
  • Honorary Doctor of Science degree, Clarkson University (1990)
  • Fellow, National Endowment for the Humanities (1987-88)
  • Fellow, National Humanities Center (1987-88)
  • Illinois Arts Council Literary Award (1976)
  • Sigma Xi (Illinois Chapter) Graduate Student Paper Award, (1968)
  • Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Teaching Fellowship (1963-64)

[edit] References

  1. ^ NWTRB Board Member.
  2. ^ Memo from the Dean 4/23/07.
  3. ^ Petroski Honored for Making Engineering Understandable.
  4. ^ Washington Award.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

Persondata
NAME Henry Petroski
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION Professor and Author
DATE OF BIRTH 1942
PLACE OF BIRTH Brooklyn, New York
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH
Languages