The Pencil: A History of Design and Circumstance 1st Edition by Henry Petroski (PDF)

Description

Henry Petroski traces the origins of the pencil back to ancient Greece and Rome, writes factually and charmingly about its development over the centuries and around the world, and shows what the pencil can teach us about engineering and technology today.

User’s Reviews

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐Who know? Awesome detail. Nice writing style.

⭐The pencil is such a simple piece of technology that it is often ignored. No one gives it a second thought to lose a pencil or throw one away. In fact, it’s the only piece of property that we lend to perfect strangers with little or no expectations of it being returned. The pencil is just everyday debris, a technology so common that we don’t even think of it as technology. And yet a tremendous amount of engineering, imagination, and hard work of thousands of people has gone into the simple, humble wood case pencil. Such a simple technology that has played such an important role in art and science, in everyday writing, and in every students learning experience deserves more credit then we give it.Henry Petroski has taken on the challenge to track down and retell the history of the pencil in all its wonderful minutia. Starting from its murky origin through its industrialization to its place in our modern society (of the early 1990’s) the pencil has had an incredibly complex history and mix of economics and creativity that is inherit to any engineering endeavor. For Petroski the history of the pencil is a perfect metaphor for what he calls the engineering method. He makes a pretty convincing argument for treating the practice of engineering in the same manner that we treat the scientific method. It doesn’t take Petroski much arguing to convince the reader that engineering is so pervasive in our everyday lives, that it warrants more study of how engineers perform their jobs and make the things we simply can’t live without. However, since much of engineering is tied up in drawings and diagrams of designs and solutions, that there simply aren’t enough eloquent engineers to explain the process to the public in the same ways as popularizers of science.Luckily, Petroski is an eloquent historian, whose enthusiasm for his subjects is infectious. Now full disclosure here, I’m something of a wood case enthusiast, so I need little selling on the arcane history of the pencil. For most folks it’s a bit of harder sale, which is understandable of course. But Petroski does such a good job of making the history relatable and easy to read that it feels more like reading a general history rather than a dry history of some dull everyday object. It’s not a page turner by any means, but I think there is enough information and enough exploration of the engineering methodology to keep anyone interested until the end. Then again I could be completely blinded by love of the pencil that this could all be completely terrible and not worth reading. So yeah, I thought it was great, not sure if everyone else will.*1st draft of this review written with a General’s Layout (Extra Black) No.555 B-core pencil

⭐For every pencil lover’s library. On Mary Norris’ desk.Perfect reference text.

⭐I’ve read Petroski before, so I was prepared for his discursive style, alternately entertaining and annoying. Almost everything you might want to know about the pencil is here somewhere–perhaps just not where you’d expect it to be. Different readers will bring different agenda to this book, and some may revel in the entire volume as written. Personally, I found the book too long, and I eventually began skimming Petroski’s meandering commentary on the connections between engineering, technology, craftsmanship and entrepreneurship, which he probably deemed the ground for writing the book in the first place.Having said that, there is much to enjoy here: great stories about mining Borrowdale “plumbago,” the creativeness of Thoreau as pencilmaker, the 1847 discovery by Jean Pierre Alibert of a vast deposit of graphite on the border of Siberia and China, and the trials and successes of Armand Hammer’s pencil making venture for the Soviet Union. “Appendix B,” a discussion of Petroski’s own pencil collecting, is as entertaining as anything in the book.

⭐Research on colored pencil history

⭐A book about the history of pencils. Everything you wanted to know and a whole lot more. I got an ex-library copy and it had only been checked out five times. Locally, the one at our library has only been checked out twice. It is a strangely interesting book, if you are a very curious person. Lots and lots of incidental information. I’d bet that Petroski’s classes at Duke were a delight. He appears to have a treasure trove as well as a cesspool of information. A bit repetitive, but fun to read. You will be the only person on your block, maybe even the only person in your town to know this information. Makes you appreciate something we all previously ignored.

⭐I am an avid reader and delight in a good book. Sadly, this is not a good book; it is calculated tedium. The author, Henry Petroski, borders on comedy as he runs around the subject chasing one rabbit after another. Yes, there is a great deal of useful information about the pencil for the reader who perseveres, but the reader is required to run through every bush in the forest sniffing every tree. I recommend that you do not buy this book unless you have nothing to read and really don’t care if the author meaninglessly rambles from one topic to another.

⭐I love reading non-fiction books with one word titles, Cod, Coal, Rats, Rust, Gold, Spice, etc, so how could I go wrong with Pencil? Best word to describe this book, pedantic. I couldn’t get through the book as the author goes off on many tangents, many of them useless information. There is some good information here though, if you can sift through the nonsense. Not recommended.

⭐great book and love the hard cover awesome recommend to read for avid factual readers.

⭐For anyone who wants to know the history of today’s humble, but ever so useful pencil, this has to be the best read ever.

⭐I suppose that if one reads enough of this book, one will eventually get to the part on pencils. I gave up because the author uses very long sentences and words that need an engineering dictionary to really understand what the author is writing about. It’s boring in my opinion.

⭐… with a brief introduction about other times, nations and beginnings.I wanted to know about the pencil, but only a first section is about it, the rest is about The Pencil Production by American Factories.But at least now I have a list of names to use for my next researches.The book is well enough written, and contains interesting considerations about engineering.

⭐Buon libro per artisti curiosi, il volume ripercorre le fasi di evoluzione delle matite ed è simpatico da sfogliare e da leggere anche saltando da un capitolo all’altro. Consigliato.

⭐

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