How did a simple design error cause one of the great disasters of the 1980s -- the collapse of the walkways
at the Kansas City Hyatt Regency Hotel? What made the graceful and innovative Tacoma Narrows Bridge twist apart
in a mild wind in 1940? How did an oversized waterlily inspire the magnificent Crystal Palace, the crowning achievement
of Victorian architecture and engineering? These are some of the failures and successes that Henry Petroski, author
of the acclaimed The Pencil, examines in this engaging, wonderfully literate book. More than a series of fascinating
case studies, To Engineer Is Human is a work that looks at our deepest notions of progress and perfection, tracing
the fine connection between the quantifiable realm of science and the chaotic realities of everyday life.