Henry Petroski

Henry Petroski (1942–2023) was an American civil engineer, historian, and prolific author renowned for his books on engineering failures, design history, and everyday objects like pencils, paper clips, and toothpicks, starting with 'To Engineer is Human' in 1985. He was the Aleksandar S. Vesic Professor of Civil Engineering and Professor of History at Duke University, where he taught for decades after earlier roles at Argonne National Laboratory and the University of Texas at Austin.[1][2][5]