to engineer is human by henry petroski

I’ve ogled {{To Engineer is Human}} by {{Henry Petroski}} for several years. So when I saw it at a local used book store for just a couple dollars, I snagged a copy.

Along with some of his other works, such as {{The Pencil: A History of Design and Circumstance}}, I’ve found the titles interesting, and the back covers alluring.

Sadly, while the book isn’t bad in and of itself, Petroski’s writing sounds like that of his profession – a professor. His style, while informative, carries the dryness associated with being in academia far too long.

Henry obviously knows a lot about engineering – but his delivery is too formal. Compared to works such as {{1421}} by {{Gavin Menzies}} (review), {{To Engineer is Human}} sounds like a graduate thesis. Maybe that was the author’s goal – if it was, he accomplished it.

If it was to make something normal folks would like and want to read, I think he failed miserably.