Design Paradigms: Case Histories of Error and Judgment in Engineering

by Henry Petroski

From ancient Greek temples to twentieth-century towers, engineers have learned more about design from failure than success. The concept of error, according to the author, is central to the design process. As a way of explaining the enduring aspects of engineering design, he relates stories of some of the greatest engineering successes and failures of all time. These case studies, drawn from a wide range of times and places, serve as paradigms of error and judgment in engineering design. By showing how errors were introduced in the design process and how they might be avoided, the book suggests how better quality and reliability might be achieved in designed devices, structures, and systems of all kinds. Clearly written, with striking illustrations, the book will appeal to engineering students, practising engineers, historians of science and technology, and all those interested in learning about the process of design.

Genres: Engineering, Nonfiction, Design, History, Computer Science

226 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 27, 1994

About the author

Henry Petroski was an American engineer specializing in failure analysis. A professor both of civil engineering and history at Duke University, he was also a prolific author.

Reviews

[dejah_thoris · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not my favorite Petroski book and definitely not the first one of his on failure that I'd recommend. It's not a terrible book but it is rather dry and more technical than the other books with an emphasis on classical and early industrial case histories. Read separately, I expect the reader would not be inundated with Petroski's overall argument that studying engineering history, especially that of failures, is relevant to current practice but read sequentially his argument becomes repetitive.

[Katia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Judging by the reviews, I believe this is not characterised as Henry Petroski’s best book on engineering failures, however I, having not read any of his other work, believe this is a very well crafted book that gets its point across beautifully.

As someone who is aspiring to be an engineer, I found every chapter very interesting as he takes the reader through some design failures, from each of which a lesson can be learned. The information is not technical, so any reader can follow his writing, and he writes in such a clear way that I am left with a very good understanding of the content after each chapter.

I believe I have learned a lot from this book, and have gained an extreme interest in case studies of engineering failure - which I know is Petroski’s aim and so I can say he was very successful. The book has also revitalised my love for engineering and has made me excited about the subject, which I think is also a great quality to the book (some can really drain the excitement out of something you usually love).

The huge pitfall of this book lies in its repetitiveness - Petroski reiterates the same key four points over and over again so that the conclusion is incredibly hard to crawl through. But each chapter is unique enough to keep me reading avidly through the middle.

[Guardingnome · Rating 5 out of 5]

Henry Petroski is a prolific and talented writer, who turns case studies into gripping page turners.

I find myself interested in several books lately, and each happens (upon inspection) to have been written by Petroski. This coincidence was spurred when I found Design Paradigms outside an office, and took it home with me.

This book must not be passed up by anybody with an interest in design, and is a great starting place for people who want an introduction to a multitude of relatable and informative engineering concepts.

I adore this book!

[Johan Blok · Rating 4 out of 5]

While studying at Delft University of Technology, I was taught a class of "banana peels". This book is exactly that: a collection of structural design principles and errors of international renown. Every would-be civil engineer should read the book. Although dated, the same design errors are still made regularly.

[Daniel Rivera · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book for any engineering student. Good analysis on learning from failure and utilizing engineering judgment to make rational decisions, and not to have your judgment clouded by designing the next big thing.

[Dave Forni · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing book, especially for structural engineering beginners or amateurs. If construction is your passion, you must read this one.

[Conor Primett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Henry Petroski’s Design Paradigms situates engineering failure not as an aberration but as an epistemic necessity, embedding technical collapse within a wider hermeneutics of design. Each case study demonstrates the recursive dialectic between success and failure: the very conditions that consolidate design confidence also generate latent blind spots. As Petroski argues, it is precisely in structural failure — whether of bridges, aircraft, or civil works — that the underlying paradigm of design is revealed, interrogated, and reconfigured.

The text functions simultaneously as a historical catalogue and a pedagogical instrument. By presenting failures as paradigmatic, Petroski frames engineering practice as an open-ended system, wherein each failure operates as a “data point” in the cumulative refinement of design heuristics. The methodological resonance with contemporary risk management frameworks (FMEA, CAPA, hazard analysis) is striking: both embed failure into the design lifecycle as a generative rather than terminal phenomenon.

Petroski’s prose is energetic, though structurally diffuse; digressions dilute the argumentative core, and the corpus of examples feels underpopulated relative to the ambition of the thesis. Yet the central claim retains force: engineering judgment must be grounded not in uncritical repetition of precedent but in an iterative engagement with breakdowns, near-misses, and systemic weaknesses.

For those working in machinery, automation, or tooling design, the analogues are immediate. Prototype instability, tolerance stack-up, control logic misalignment, and unanticipated fatigue represent not anomalies but predictable epistemic stages in the prototyping–validation–refinement cycle. Petroski’s histories of civil and aeronautical collapse mirror, in principle, the failures encountered in equipment engineering: each failure uncovers tacit assumptions in load modelling, materials behaviour, or process capability.

In sum, Design Paradigms remains a significant contribution to the literature on engineering epistemology. It affirms that reliability is not achieved by erasing failure but by integrating its lessons into design methodology — an insight aligned with the iterative logic of prototyping and the systemic discipline of risk mitigation. Chi non cade, non impara a camminare: only by falling do we learn the mechanics of balance.

[Carl Gauger · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love reading Henry Petroski when he is at his best, as he is in this excellent book. Taking examples from the history of engineering, he constructs a pretty comprehensive list of "error paradigms." How very interesting to see the same sorts of engineering blunders in Vitruvius and Gallileo that occur in contemporary engineering and design. Do like I did--write these paradigms down, keep them in a handy place as a reminder to check yourself. Forewarned is forearmed, as they say.

[Ari · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is history with an agenda. Petroski sets out to give engineers and proto-engineers a shared set of design failure stories. The structure is a little loose -- Petroski goes on digressions -- and I wish he'd given more examples. But the purpose is a good one, the writing has energy, and the examples seem apt.

Berkeley Engineering library has a copy.

[Terry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Case histories of errors are important for any practitioner who wants move beyond.

[Atila · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good book on engineering ethics.