Design, and I am pleased that it is still being read and commented upon. I at trib ute at least part of that book’s staying power to its accessible discussion of underlying principles of engineering design and how they can be illustrated through real-world examples of successes and failures, many of which were contemporary at the time of the writing. Although the overarching principles developed in To Engineer Is Human remain relevant, its examples are limited largely to mechanical and structural failures. I did not have much to say about the interaction of people and machines or the complexities of systemic failures that are not attributable to design alone.

Since the appearance of To Engineer Is Human, notable and highly visible accidents have occurred, including the catastrophic loss of two space shuttles; the rush-hour collapse of the interstate highway bridge in Minneapolis; the embarrassing and tragic developments associated with Boston’s epic Big Dig; the destruction of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig and subsequent persistent oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico; and the rash of construction crane accidents that indiscriminately claimed the lives of workers and ordi-