Success through failure. Design paradox. Petroski G.

Planning permeates our lives. Everything - from creating a presentation in PowerPoint to the design of a modern bridge - embodies this universal activity of man. But what is good planning? In this convincing and comprehensive review of the very essence of inventive activity, the outstanding engineer and writer Henry Petroski claims that we again build success on the basis of failure, and not just imitate previous successes. “Success through failure” shows us that the essence of the invention and design is to create something better by thorough forecasting and, thus, prevent failure.

Petriski explores the nature of the inventions and the nature of the inventor with the help of a number of everyday and unusual examples: illustrated lectures, packaging for drugs with protection from children, national constitutions, medical equipment, the highest skyscrapers, long -span bridges and many another.

emphasizing that there is no way to fail more than design exclusively on the basis of past success, he sheds new light on crushing failures - from the fall of such a bridge in 1940 and the disasters of space shuttles in recent decades before the destruction World Trade Center in 2001.

The book “Success through the failure”, which will appeal to everyone who is interested in design, including engineers, architects and designers, ends with thoughts about when we wait for the next major destruction of the bridge and what kind of type.