"Henry Petroski tells the stories of significant and daring enterprises - some familiar, some virtually unknown, and some that are still only dreams - in their historical and technological contexts. Among the achievements are Philadelphia's landmark Benjamin Franklin Bridge, London's incomparable Tower Bridge, and China's ambitious Three Gorges Dam project. But pushing the limits of technology does not come without risk. Petroski also chronicles great technological disasters, such as the 1928 failure of California's St. Francis Dam, the 1999 tragedy of the Texas A & M Bonfire, and the September 11, 2001, collapse of New York's World Trade Center towers. He deals with other calamities as well, such as the 1994 earthquake that struck Southern California and the embarrassingly wobbly Millennium Bridge in London, which had to be shut down only three days after it opened."--Jacket.
- ISBN10 1400040515
- ISBN13 9781400040513
- Publish Date 15 December 2004
- Publish Status Out of Print
- Out of Print 20 May 2017
- Publish Country AU
- Publisher Random House Australia
- Imprint Knopf Australia
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 288
- Language English