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The Essential Engineer

Why Science Alone Will Not Solve Our Global Problems

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The Essential Engineer

By: Henry Petroski
Narrated by: Mark Deakins
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About this listen

 From the acclaimed author of The Pencil and To Engineer Is Human, The Essential Engineer is an eye-opening exploration of the ways in which science and engineering must work together to address our world’s most pressing issues, from dealing with climate change and the prevention of natural disasters to the development of efficient automobiles and the search for renewable energy sources. While the scientist may identify problems, it falls to the engineer to solve them. It is the inherent practicality of engineering, which takes into account structural, economic, environmental, and other factors that science often does not consider, that makes engineering vital to answering our most urgent concerns.

Henry Petroski takes us inside the research, development, and debates surrounding the most critical challenges of our time, exploring the feasibility of biofuels, the progress of battery-operated cars, and the question of nuclear power. He gives us an in-depth investigation of the various options for renewable energy—among them solar, wind, tidal, and ethanol—explaining the benefits and risks of each. Will windmills soon populate our landscape the way they did in previous centuries? Will synthetic trees, said to be more efficient at absorbing harmful carbon dioxide than real trees, soon dot our prairies? Will we construct a “sunshade” in outer space to protect ourselves from dangerous rays? In many cases, the technology already exists. What’s needed is not so much invention as engineering.

Just as the great achievements of centuries past—the steamship, the airplane, the moon landing—once seemed beyond reach, the solutions to the twenty-first century’s problems await only a similar coordination of science and engineering. Eloquently reasoned and written, The Essential Engineer identifies and illuminates these problems—and, above all, sets out a course for putting ideas into action.


Photograph of The New York Times Building (c) David Sundberg/Esto History & Culture History & Philosophy Philosophy Science Technology & Society Technology Innovation

Critic Reviews

"Analyzing both historical and contemporary examples, from climate change to public health, Petroski shows how science often overlooks structural, economic, environmental and aesthetic dimensions that routinely challenge engineers. Moreover, he says, sometimes science trails technology, as when engineers had to design the first moon landing vehicles before scientists learned its surface composition. Far from being hostile toward science, Petroski pleads for continued cooperation between science and engineering. When, as Petroski laments, even President Obama has sometimes omitted engineering in touting science, this book could hardly be more timely."--Publishers Weekly

"With customary acuity and variety, Petroski is sure to please his established readership with these interesting disquisitions on technology." --Booklist

All stars
Most relevant
Petroski spent the majority of this book whinging about how the press always reports victories of science and failures of engineering, but rarely the other way around.
Some very sturdy points are made, but as an engineering student, I found it a little petty that such an engineer as Henry Petroski should dedicate an entire book tour info g this axe. It gets very old by the end of the book.

Someone's got an axe to grind.

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