How long does it take to read To Engineer Is Human?
the role of failure in successful design
To Engineer Is Human by Henry Petroski takes about 4 hours 32 minutes to read at 250 words a minute.
About 4 hours 32 minutes
A weekend read
First published 1982. 247 pages, about 67,925 words.
10 days at 30 minutes a day
Estimate based on 275 words per page.
At other speeds
| Slow, 150 words a minute | 7 hours 33 minutes |
| Average, 250 words a minute | 4 hours 32 minutes |
| Fast, 400 words a minute | 2 hours 50 minutes |
The page count is the median across 5 editions, so your copy may differ. How we calculate.
About the book
How did a simple design error cause one of the great disasters of the 1980s--the collapse of the walkways at the Kansas City Hyatt Regency Hotel? What made the graceful and innovating Tacoma Narrows Bridge twist apart in a mild wind in 1940? How did an oversize waterlily inspire the magnificent Crystal Palace, the crowning achievement of Victorian architecture and engineering? These are some of the failures and successes that Petroski examines in this book, a work that looks at our deepest notions of progress and perfection, tracing the fine connection between the quantifiable realm of science and the chaotic realities of everyday life.--From publisher description.
Subjects: Engineering design, System failures (Engineering), Building failures, Technik, Konstruktionsfehler, Architektur
