Best quotes by Henry Petroski on Failure

Checkout quotes by Henry Petroski on Failure

• ‟ Failure is central to engineering. Every single calculation that an engineer makes is a failure calculation. Successful engineering is all about understanding how things break or fail.

  - Henry Petroski
  

• ‟ Engineering is achieving function while avoiding failure.

  - Henry Petroski
  

• ‟ I emphasize that virtually every engineering calculation is ultimately a failure calculation, because without a failure criterion against which to measure the calculated result, it is a meaningless number.

  - Henry Petroski
  

• ‟ Case studies of failure should be made a part of the vocabulary of every engineer so that he or she can recall or recite them when something in a new design or design process is suggestive of what went wrong in the case study.

  - Henry Petroski
  

• ‟ The paradox is that when we model future designs on past successes, we are inviting failure down the line; when we take into account past failures and anticipate potential new ways in which failure can occur, we are more likely to produce successful designs.

  - Henry Petroski
  

• ‟ Relying on nothing but scientific knowledge to produce an engineering solution is to invite frustration at best and failure at worst.

  - Henry Petroski
  

• ‟ Many of the familiar little things that we use every day have typically evolved over a period of time to a state of familiarity. They balance form and function, elegance and economy, success and failure in ways that are not only acceptable, but also admirable.

  - Henry Petroski