Fall 1989

Volume 5, Issue 2

FEATURES

An Airplane Is Not A Bird

Of course not—yet the analogy has repeatedly held back design improvement

John S. Harris

H. D. Thoreau, Engineer

He is remembered now as the solitary philosopher of Walden Pond, but he also conceived of the best, most advanced pencils in the nation and helped run the factory that made them
Henry Petroski

Sidewinder

Howard A. Wilcox

The Brief, Swift Reign Of The Clippers

They were an extreme technological adaptation, built for speed at any price—and the price was soon too high
Nicholas Dean

The Greatest Bridge Never Built?

It would have bestridden three big rivers like a Y-shaped Brooklyn Bridge, decades before that span was built

Steven J. Fenves

DEPARTMENTS

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