To engineer is human

How did a simple design error cause one of the great disasters of the 1980's--the collapse of the walkways of the Kansas City Hyatt Regency Hotel? What made a graceful and innovative Tacoma Narrows Bridge twist apart in a mild wind in 1940? How did an oversized waterlily inspire the magnificent Crystal Palace, the corwning achievement of Victorian architecture and engineering? These are some of the failures and successes that Henry Petroski examines in this engaging, wonderfully literate book.