"When Technology Fails" (issue of National Forum)

"When Technology Fails." Issue of National Forum: The Phi Kappa Phi Journal, 81.1 (Winter 2001).

Relevant contents: Henry Petroski, "Success & Failure in Engineering"; James R. Hansen "Learning Through Failure" (NASA's Scout Rocket); Thomas G. White, Jr., "The Establishment of Blame in the Aftermath of a Technological Disaster: An Examination of the Apollo I and Challenger Disasters"; R. John Hansman, "Complexity in Aircraft Automation—A Precursor for Concerns in Human-Automation System"; Stephanie J. Bond, "When They Built the Ship Titanic." A thin, slick magazine for educated layfolk deals dispassionately with an aspect of technology usually ignored or sensationalized. Note that Petroski's account of successes and failures ranges from ancient schemes for moving large columns and pedestals to the spectacular collapse in the 20th c. of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge. See above, J. Burke's Connections.