Engineering Failure Quotes & Sayings

I employ case studies of failure into my courses, emphasizing that they teach us much more than studies of success. It is not that success stories cannot serve as models of good design or as exemplars of creative engineering. They can do that, but they cannot teach us how close to failure they are. — Henry Petroski

For the personality, bankruptcy or failure may be a disaster. For the soul, it may be grist for its strangely joyful mill, and a condition it has been secretly engineering for years. — David Whyte

I emphasize that virtually every engineering calculation is ultimately a failure calculation, because without a failure criterion against which to measure the calculated result, it is a meaningless number. — Henry Petroski

The fallacy that dynamic processes must be modeled as if the system is in continuous equilibrium is probably the most important reason for the intellectual failure of neoclassical economics. Mathematics, science and engineering developed tools long ago to model outside of equilibrium processes. This dynamic approach to thinking about the economy should become second nature to economists. — Steve Keen

Failure is Central to engineering. Every single calculation that an engineer makes is a failure calculation. — Henry Petroski

With engineering, I view this year's failure as next year's opportunity to try it again. Failures are not something to be avoided. You want to have them happen as quickly as you can so you can make progress rapidly. — Gordon Moore

Engineering is achieving function while avoiding failure. — Henry Petroski

What is commonly overlooked in using the computer is the fact that the central goal of design is still to obviate failure, and thus it is critical to identify exactly how a structure may fail. The computer cannot do this by itself ... — Henry Petroski

All attempts at artificial aviation are not only dangerous to human life, but foredoomed to failure from the engineering standpoint. — Simon Newcomb

Relying on nothing but scientific knowledge to produce an engineering solution is to invite frustration at best and failure at worst. — Henry Petroski

[John] Kobak explained, 'The way you learn anything is that something fails, and you figure out how not to have it fail again. — Robert S. Arrighi