Top Ten Best Engineering Books!
These are my 'top ten' engineering books. The books I have selected are inspiring, readable and each revealing of a different dimension of engineering. They are, of course a purely personal choice. References are to editions available at http://amazon.co.uk
The Mythical Man Month (and Other Essays on Software Engineering)
Frederick P. Brooks Jr.
[Addison Wesley; 2nd edition (2 Aug 1995)]
A witty and beautifully written account of the difficulties of engineering complex systems, and a perspective on the operation of organisations. Fred Brooks draws on his experience at IBM. Combines practical guidance with analysis. A book that should be read beyond engineering by every manager in a technology organisation. A classic.
Zen And The Art Of Motorcycle Maintenance
Robert Pirsig
[Vintage Books; New edition (18 Nov 1999)]
I thought hard about including this. Very much a mixed bag and not altogether an easy read. You should skim the hippy philosophy. The bits on motorcycle maintenance are however very interesting and capture, in a way no other book I know does, something of the pleasures and aesthetic of engineering.
Design for the Real World: Human Ecology and Social Change
Victor Papanek
[Thames & Hudson; 2nd edition (11 Feb 1985)]
The seminal book on appropriate technology that incorporates a wider philosophy of the social role of design. Very much a manifesto but important and imparted with urgency and feeling.
To Engineer Is Human: The Role of Failure in Successful Design
Henry Petroski
[Vintage Books; 1st Vintage Books edition (30 April 1992)]
A mainstay of introductory engineering reading lists. Henry Petroski's highly readable analyses of design and failure, illustrated by elegant examples, are insightful and often surprising. His central message, that engineering moves forward through an essentially evolutionary process is practically important and his demonstration of how good engineering works through the intertwining of radical design and conservative reuse of ideas is enlightening. This is his most well known book.
The Soul of a New Machine
Tracey Kidder
[Back Bay Books (1 Jun 2000)]
A close up account of a team at Data General in the 1970s designing a new computer. Beards, sideburns and 1970s macho, but still relevant and recognisable. Captures the obsession and the excitement of engineering. A wonderful book that deserves to be discovered by a new generation of engineers.
Normal Accidents: Living with High Risk Technologies
Charles Perrow
[Princeton University Press; New edition (27 Sep 1999)]
This book is about how accidents happen but, in fact, ranges much wider. It is an exploration of systemic failure and its implications. Extraordinarily readable and full of compelling examples. Also prescient, it predicted several large scale accidents, yet to happen when the book was written. A book that needs to be read beyond engineering, by policy makers.
The Psychology of Everyday Things
Donald A. Norman
[Basic Books (23 May 1988)]
Perhaps an eccentric choice but this is, in my view, the best account of how humans interact with the engineered environment. What distinguishes the book is the way in which design is coupled to cognitive science. The simple examples, doors, light switches, and so on, are used to great effect. A book that changes how you look at everyday things.
Brunelleschi's Dome
Ross King
[Vintage Books (8 May 2008)]
The dome on the cathedral in Florence. Ross King's book is part biography of a genius, part Renaissance history and part an account of an incredible feat of engineering. The story is immensely interesting and the achievement awe inspiring. Catch a view of the dome over the rooftops of Florence and it still startles with its scale and shape.
Homo Faber
Max Frisch
[Penguin Modern Classics (2 Nov 2006)]
This list should have a novel. Science fiction would be too predictable. The title Homo Faber refers both to 'man the maker' and to Walter Faber who is the first-person voice of the narrative. The book tears apart the engineering world view as chance, irrationality and illness take a tragic shape. The texture of the writing tells much of the story, even in translation.
Why Buildings Stand Up: The Strength of Architecture from the Pyramids to the Skyscraper
Mario Salvadori
[W.W. Norton & Company (February 18, 2002)]
Supposedly when Mario Salvadori's mother was given a copy of this book she remarked that she was more interested in why buildings fall down. As a result Salvadori wrote, with Matthys Levy and Kevin Woest, the better known companion volume: "Why Buildings Fall Down: How Structures Fail". Nevertheless, this survey of building methods provides an essential understanding of how engineers solve problems and the accomplishments of structural engineering.