How did the table fork acquire a fourth tine? What advantage does the Phillips-head screw have over its single-grooved predecessor? Why does the paper clip look the way it does? What makes Scotch tape Scotch?

In this delightful book Henry, Petroski takes a microscopic look at artifacts that most of us count on but rarely contemplate, including such icons of the everyday as pins, Post-its, and fast-food "clamshell" containers. At the same time, he offers a convincing new theory of technological innovation as a response to the perceived failures of existing products -- suggesting that irritation, and not necessity, is the mother of invention.

• We started tracking this book on November 13, 2011.
• This book was $11.99 when we started tracking it.
• The price of this book has changed 116 times in the past 4,768 days.
• The current price of this book is $8.99 last checked 59 minutes ago.
• This lowest price this book has been offered at in the past year is $4.99.
• The lowest price to date was $4.99 last reached on October 15, 2024.
• This book has been $4.99 3 times since we started tracking it.
• The highest price to date was $14.99 last reached on March 28, 2017.
• This book has been $14.99 one time since we started tracking it.

• Text-to-Speech: Disabled
• Lending: Disabled
• File Size: 1,787 KB