Catastrophe!: Great Engineering Failure-And Success (Scientific American Mysteries of Science) - Hardcover

Bortz, Fred

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0716765381 ISBN 13: 9780716765387

Publisher: W H Freeman & Co, 1995

Synopsis

Describes engineering disasters, such as the Tacoma Narrows Bridge, the space shuttle Challenger, and Three Mile Island, and explains what was learned from each incident

About this title

About the Author

A native of Pittsburgh, PA, Fred Bortz is fast gaining recognition as one of the nation's leading writers of science and technology for young people. In his books, articles, and personal appearances, he shares with his audience the joy of discovery that fueled his previous twenty-five year career in teaching and research in physics, engineering, and science education. From 1979 through 1994, he was involved in research at Carnegie Mellon University, from which he earned his doctorate in Physics in 1971.

Reviewers have commended Fred's books for their clarity, energy, and high interest level. Few children's writers have achieved his combination of subject-matter expertise, story-telling skills, and enthusiasm for knowledge. In addition to writing, Fred is an instructor for the Institute of Children's Literature and an adjunct faculty member in Chatham College's innovative Masters degree program in writing for children.

From the Back Cover

A bridge collapse . . . an airplane crash . . . the Challenger disaster . . . What do these events have in common? How do they happen, and how can they be prevented from happening again?

From the Inside Flap

Have you ever built a house of cards, only to watch it fall as you add one card too many? Imagine how an engineer feels when his or her "house of cards" is a bridge or a spacecraft!

Engineers are responsible for creating some of the most spectacular structures of modern times. But engineers are human, so sometimes they make mistakes. If they are good engineers, they learn from the things that go wrong, whether big or small.

In Catastrophe! you will read about spectacular engineering failures, some of which were tragic: the collapse of a walkway suspended several stories above a hotel lobby, an airplane that crashed into the side of a mountain, the Challenger disaster, and a nuclear power plant accident with a far-reaching aftermath.

What can engineers understand from these events to prevent them from happening again.

Reviews

Gr. 4^-6. Beginning with the origin, meaning, and usefulness of Murphy's law, Bortz looks at events involving a skywalk at a Kansas City hotel, the Tacoma Narrows Bridge, DC-10 airplanes, the space shuttle Challenger, nuclear power plants, and the northeastern U.S. power grid. Throughout the book, Bortz focuses on the avoidance of problems through anticipation of unusual situations. Attractive to browsers, the book offers engineering information in a readable text, illustrated with black-and-white photographs and diagrams. Carolyn Phelan

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

From the Introduction.

When people speak of Murphy's Law, they usually mean that something is bound to fail, no matter what. That's not what Captain Murphy meant at all. His point was that engineers should always be careful to look for anything that can lead to failures of their designs. Engineering designs can work properly if the engineers are careful to eliminate anything that can go wrong. His message was: pay attention to details; be alert to anything that can go wrong so you can change the design to eliminate problems.

Of course, engineers are human, so they sometimes miss something that can go wrong. When they do, according to Murphy's Law, failure will certainly follow. If they are good engineers like Murphy, they learn from that failure, whether it is catastrophic, spectacular, or of little consequence.

They learn far more from failures than successes. They learn not only from their own failures, but also from the failures of others....

Most small failures are never reported, because people don't like to talk about what they did wrong. That's too bad because small failures can teach us how to avoid larger ones. But when catastrophes occur -- sudden, unexpected, or tragic failures -- they attract attention. People talk about them, study them, and, we hope, learn from them. In the rest of this book, you will read about spectacular engineering failures, some of which are tragic and catastrophic. But more importantly, you will also discover that spectacular success is possible when you truly understand the causes of failure.

That's what Murphy's Law really means: If you want things to go right, pay attention to everything that can go wrong.

Edition details

• Publisher: W H Freeman & Co
• Publication date: 1995
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0716765381
• ISBN 13: 9780716765387
• Binding: Hardcover
• Illustrator: Tong Gary
• Number of pages: 80