Publication

1996 - Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mass, Massachusetts

Language

English

Word Count

60,500 words, Guess

Page Count

242 pages

Physical Format

Hardcover

Identifiers

and 3 more
  • Library of Congress Control Number96019227
  • LibraryThing175630
  • Goodreads1417001

Classifications

  • DDC620/.0042
  • LCCTA174 .P4735 1996

Description

This book explores the nature of engineering and technology through case studies of familiar objects, from paper clips and aluminum cans to airplanes and modern high-rise buildings. These real-world artifacts (some of which I have written about before) are approached here from a perspective designed to illuminate different facets of the engineering enterprise -- design, analysis, failure, economics, aesthetics, communications, politics, and quality control, to name but a few. The case studies also touch on a variety of engineering fields, including aeronautical, civil, computer, electrical, environmental, manufacturing, mechanical, and structural engineering. - Preface.

Description

Engineering entails more than knowing the way things work. What do economics and ecology, aesthetics and ethics, have to do with the shape of a paper clip, the tab of a beverage can, the cabin design of a turbojet, or the course of a river? How do the idiosyncrasies of individual engineers, companies, and communities leave their mark on projects from Velcro to fax machines to waterworks? Invention by Design offers an insider's look at these political and cultural dimensions of design and development, production and construction.

Subjects

Topics

KunstGerätDesignPolitikTechnikEntwurfÄsthetik

Other Editions

  • Invention by design: how engineers get from thought to thingHardcoverHarvard University Press1996-01-01

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