Force

What It Means to Push and Pull, Slip and Grip, Start and Stop

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Pub Date 20 Sep 2022 | Archive Date 05 Oct 2022

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Description

An eminent engineer and historian tackles one of the most elemental aspects of life: how we experience and utilize physical force
 
“Another gem from a master of technology writing.”—Kirkus Reviews
 
Force explores how humans interact with the material world in the course of their everyday activities. This book for the general reader also considers the significance of force in shaping societies and cultures.
 
Celebrated author Henry Petroski delves into the ongoing physical interaction between people and things that enables them to stay put or causes them to move. He explores the range of daily human experience whereby we feel the sensations of push and pull, resistance and assistance. The book is also about metaphorical force, which manifests itself as pressure and relief, achievement and defeat.
 
Petroski draws from a variety of disciplines to make the case that force—represented especially by our sense of touch—is a unifying principle that pervades our lives. In the wake of a prolonged global pandemic that increasingly cautioned us about contact with the physical world, Petroski offers a new perspective on the importance of the sensation and power of touch.
An eminent engineer and historian tackles one of the most elemental aspects of life: how we experience and utilize physical force
 
“Another gem from a master of technology writing.”—Kirkus Reviews
 
...

Advance Praise

“Petroski [is] a rare engineer whose writing delights general readers. . . . Another gem from a master of technology writing.”—Kirkus Reviews


“Henry Petroski’s poetic prose pairs psychology with physics, producing a joyful joining of fact, fun, and physics. His exploration of the many meanings of force informs while it delights.”—Don Norman, author of The Design of Everyday Things


“Force! From John Keats to Isaac Newton, from pizza boxes to the Forth Bridge, this is a veritable cornucopia that will intrigue and inform the curious reader about a concept often taken for granted.”—Paul Jowitt, Professor of Civil Engineering Systems, Heriot–Watt University


“Henry Petroski clearly and accessibly explains the most important idea in classical physics and engineering: the concept of force. His vivid prose illustrates the many ways in which forces enter and influence our everyday lives.”—Howard A. Stone, Princeton University


“Henry Petroski is a true polymath with a superbly holistic perspective. Force is a unified field theory of almost everything, exploring the interdependencies among everyday forces and their effects. Albert Einstein would have loved it.”—Peter G. Neumann, Chief Scientist, SRI International Computer Science Laboratory


Force is yet another masterful and even more expansive demonstration of Henry Petroski’s uncommon capacity for demystifying science and engineering and engaging the public broadly. It is a tour de force!”—Ron Latanision, Shell Professor of Materials Science and Engineering (Emeritus), Massachusetts Institute of Technology

“Petroski [is] a rare engineer whose writing delights general readers. . . . Another gem from a master of technology writing.”—Kirkus Reviews


“Henry Petroski’s poetic prose pairs psychology with...


Available Editions

EDITION Other Format
ISBN 9780300260793
PRICE $30.00 (USD)
PAGES 328

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