Engineers of Dreams: Great Bridge Builders and the Spanning of America by Henry Petroski (PDF)

Description

Petroski reveals the science and engineering–not to mention the politics, egotism, and sheer magic–behind America’s great bridges, particularly those constructed during the great bridge-building era starting in the 1870s and continuing through the 1930s. It is the story of the men and women who built the St. Louis, the George Washington, and the Golden Gate bridges, drawing not only on their mastery of numbers but on their gifts for persuasion and self-promotion. It is an account of triumphs and ignominious disasters (including the Tacoma Narrows Bridge, which literally twisted itself apart in a high wind). And throughout this grandly engaging book, Petroski lets us see how bridges became the “symbols and souls” of our civilization, as well as testaments to their builders’ vision, ingenuity, and perseverance.”Seamlessly linked…With astonishing scope and generosity of view, Mr. Petroski places the tradition of American bridge-building in perspective.”–New York Times Book Review

User’s Reviews

Editorial Reviews: Amazon.com Review Henry Petroski’s lyrical history of bridge builders in America is organized around five engineers: James Eads (inventor of the diving bell, which bridged Mississippi at St. Louis); Theodore Cooper (railroad bridge engineer and designer of the ill-fated Quebec Bridge); Gustav Lindenthal (Hell Gate Bridge, New York); Othmar Ammann (George Washington and Verrazano-Narrow bridges); and David Steinman (Mackinac bridge). Petroski’s opening and closing chapters, “Imagine” and “Realize,” remind us how a bridge starts out as a dream of engineering, but ends as a reality of compromise and maintenance. Edward Tenner says that “The profound contribution of Engineers of Dreams is to remind us that communication across generations may be the most important bridge of all.” From Publishers Weekly Focusing on five engineers and their creations, Petroski looks at the great bridge-building era that spanned from the 1870s to the 1930s. Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. Review . . . [written with] astonishing scope and generosity . . . — The New York Times Book Review, M.R. Montgomery From the Back Cover Petroski reveals the science and engineering–not to mention the politics, egotism, and sheer magic–behind America’s great bridges, particularly those constructed during the great bridge-building era starting in the 1870s and continuing through the 1930s. It is the story of the men and women who built the St. Louis, the George Washington, and the Golden Gate bridges, drawing not only on their mastery of numbers but on their gifts for persuasion and self-promotion. It is an account of triumphs and ignominious disasters (including the Tacoma Narrows Bridge, which literally twisted itself apart in a high wind). And throughout this grandly engaging book, Petroski lets us see how bridges became the “symbols and souls” of our civilization, as well as testaments to their builders’ vision, ingenuity, and perseverance. “Seamlessly linked…With astonishing scope and generosity of view, Mr. Petroski places the tradition of American bridge-building in perspective.”–New York Times Book Review About the Author Henry Petroski is the Aleksandar S. Vesic Professor of Civil Engineering and a professor of history at Duke University, where he also serves as chairman of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. The author of more than 15 books, he has received grants from the National Science Foundation and fellowships from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the National Humanities Center. Read more

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

⭐Great book with lots of detailed history. A little long on some stories, though

⭐excellent author great book

⭐As a structural engineer specializing in bridges, I found this book to be extremely informative. Petroski explores in-depth the bridge design community’s heavy hitters. He artistic weaves the engineers personal lives, their design projects, and events of the day into an entertaining story. Petroski sprinkles just enough technology talk here and there to keep the interest of those with scientific minds, but keeps it simple enough so that it is approachable to those who have a fear of math. Well written, great book, and a must read for anyone who wants to know more about how many of America’s signature bridges were created.

⭐Engineers of Dreams is a book I’ve read several times because it involves me in the history behind some of engineerings greatest triumphs… and failures. The story of great engineers with various combinations of vision and practicality, as well as perseverence in all cases, makes for a kind of drama. In some cases, we know how the story ended, with a great bridge we can see. In other cases, the story ends with a wreck and bodies. From the story of the San Francisco Bay Bridge to the story of the first Quebec Bridge, this book itself spans a range of ability and satisfaction that is a joy to perceive.

⭐If you want to learn more about the best American bridge designers and their bridges, this is the book for you! In particular it has a very good chapter on Steinman (the designer of the Mackinac Bridge).This book will tell you the stories and politics behind each one of the designers featured and their bridges.

⭐There are very few books which deal with the detail of what it took to build some of the most useful bridges that , even though they were built almost a hundred years ago, are still used and appreciated by millions of people today. I heartily recommend this book to anyone who has an interest in the subject and am not surprised, but disappointed that the book is not currently available by the publisher.I was going to purchase several copies as gifts to fellow engineers. I look forward to the second edition

⭐I am a great fan of Henry Petroski, engineering professor and author of such minor classics as The Pencil and The Evolution of Useful Things. Perhaps it is because of these high expectations that I was so disappointed by Engineer of Dreams: Great Bridge Builders and the Spanning of America. In the end, Petroski seems much better at writing about engineering artifacts – pencils, paper clips, or, in this book, bridges – than the makers of those artifacts. Much of Petroski’s “biography” here seemed nothing less than mere formula: you could almost see him filling in his computer template for “name, date and place of birth, school, mentor, etc.” each time a new engineer was introduced. Further, he did not even attempt to vary the template from person to person, so that the repetitive style becomes unmistakable. This book is worth reading insofar as it provides a history of the bridges themselves, and the limits of engineering technique and imagination.

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