The Evolution of Useful Things: How Everyday Artifacts-From Forks and Pins to Paper Clips and Zippers-Came to be as They are

Petroski, Henry

ISBN 10: 0679740392 / ISBN 13: 9780679740391

Published by Vintage, 1994

About this Item

Seller Inventory # 0679740392-3-20953554

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Evolution of Useful Things: How Everyday Artifacts-From Forks and Pins to Paper Clips and Zippers-Came to be as They are
• Publisher: Vintage
• Publication Date: 1994
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0679740392
• ISBN 13: 9780679740391
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: Good
• Weight: 8 ounces

About this title

Synopsis

   How did the table fork acquire a fourth tine?  What advantage does the Phillips-head screw have over its single-grooved predecessor? Why does the paper clip look the way it does? What makes Scotch tape Scotch?

   In this delightful book Henry, Petroski takes a microscopic look at artifacts that most of us count on but rarely contemplate, including such icons of the everyday as pins, Post-its, and fast-food "clamshell" containers.  At the same time, he offers a convincing new theory of technological innovation as a response to the perceived failures of existing products—suggesting that irritation, and not necessity, is the mother of invention.

About the Author

Henry Petroski is the Aleksandar S. Vesic Professor of Civil Engineering and a professor of history at Duke University. The author of more than a dozen previous books, he lives in Durham, North Carolina, and Arrowsic, Maine.