To Forgive Design

Understanding Failure

By: Henry Petroski

Narrated by: Stephen Hoye

When planes crash, bridges collapse, and automobile gas tanks explode, we are quick to blame poor design. But Henry Petroski says we must look beyond design for causes and corrections. Known for his masterly explanations of engineering successes and failures, Petroski here takes his analysis a step further, to consider the larger context in which accidents occur.

In To Forgive Design he surveys some of the most infamous failures of our time, from the 2007 Minneapolis bridge collapse and the toppling of a massive Shanghai apartment building in 2009 to Boston's prolonged Big Dig and the 2010 Gulf oil spill. These avoidable disasters reveal the interdependency of people and machines within systems whose complex behavior was undreamed of by their designers, until it was too late. Petroski shows that even the simplest technology is embedded in cultural and socioeconomic constraints, complications, and contradictions.

Failure to imagine the possibility of failure is the most profound mistake engineers can make. Software developers realized this early on and looked outside their young field, to structural engineering, as they sought a historical perspective to help them identify their own potential mistakes. By explaining the interconnectedness of technology and culture and the dangers that can emerge from complexity, Petroski demonstrates that we would all do well to follow their lead.

©2012 Henry Petroski (P)2014 Audible Inc.

I love this book...

I love this book because it is very well written and exciting to read. I was a Reliability Engineer on the Space Shuttle Solid Rocket Motors for 22 years and I learned a lot about Engineering Design Failures. This book touches on all the stuff I learned and then some. I love the way Dr Petroski discusses all of these very important subjects. I know I will be reading this book many times and refer back to it often. I highly recommend this book to everyone.

poor audio quality, good treatise

the book content was interesting, however the poorly quantized audio stream made connection to the material difficult. I enjoyed the consideration of failure cycles being connected to engineering generations. Petroski gives ample consideration to design's hand in failure and subsequent analyses. I will likely re-read in the future.

An excellent read for anyone doing design

What did you love best about To Forgive Design?

Petroski's insight into the important role of inevitable failures is a reminder of just how much we take for granted. The point that experienced and new engineers (and all designers) can get out of this book is that failed designs can teach us where we misunderstood.

I love the author, the reader of this book though...

The cadence of the reading, the rhythm, is tough to listen to on a sustained basis This May be a good book. Can’t get through it

Great, for structural and civil engineers

I came to the book as a designer, but the real audience is structural and civil engineers. There are brief dustings of other areas that show how design hubris can impact on other designed systems such as software programming and financial, and surely if you do your own heavy lifting you can take these lessons and apply them, but if you’re looking for this broader discussion you may wish to turn to a different book.