Force: What It Means to Push and Pull, Slip and Grip, Start and Stop

by Henry Petroski

Overview

An eminent engineer and historian tackles one of the most elemental aspects of life: how we experience and utilize physical force
 
“Another gem from a master of technology writing.”—Kirkus Reviews
 
Force explores how humans interact with the material world in the course of their everyday activities. This book for the general reader also considers the significance of force in shaping societies and cultures.
 
Celebrated author Henry Petroski delves into the ongoing physical interaction between people and things that enables them to stay put or causes them to move. He explores the range of daily human experience whereby we feel the sensations of push and pull, resistance and assistance. The book is also about metaphorical force, which manifests itself as pressure and relief, achievement and defeat.
 
Petroski draws from a variety of disciplines to make the case that force—represented especially by our sense of touch—is a unifying principle that pervades our lives. In the wake of a prolonged global pandemic that increasingly cautioned us about contact with the physical world, Petroski offers a new perspective on the importance of the sensation and power of touch.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780300274134
Publisher:	Yale University Press
Publication date:	09/19/2023
Pages:	328
Sales rank:	410,647
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.25(h) x (d)

About the Author

Henry Petroski is the author of nineteen previous nonfiction trade books, including The Pencil and The Evolution of Useful Things, which consider the invention, design, and cultural significance of common objects. He is a distinguished professor emeritus at Duke University.

Table of Contents

Preface xi

Prologue Things We Feel 1

1 Pushes and Pulls Sources of Forces 9

2 Gravitation The Heavy Force 19

3 Magnetism Telephones and Tricky Dogs 27

4 Friction House Slippers and Finger Prisons 36

5 Fractious Forces Shaking and Sliding 46

6 Lever, Lever, Cantilever A Single-Handed Force 53

7 Forces, Forces Everywhere Getting Dressed and Going Out 70

8 Moments of Inertia Mass Transit and the Transit of Masses 86

9 Forceful Illusions Schools and Spools 107

10 From Physics to the Physical The Real Feel 126

11 Forces on Inclined Planes Unlevel Playing Fields 135

12 Stretching and Squeezing Springs and Packaging 143

13 A Round Cake in a Square Box And a Sagging Triangle of Pie 160

14 Deployable Structures Tapes Measure 175

15 Anthropomorphic Models From Caryatids to Avatars 182

16 Visible and Invisible Hands Wind, Warp, and Woe 202

17 Overarching Problems Helping Hands 215

18 Pyramids, Obelisks, and Asparagus Ramping Up the Force 230

19 Moving with the Planet Feeling the Earth Quake 249

20 Forces Felt and Heard Precursors to an End 263

Epilogue A Forceful End 273

Acknowledgments 277

Bibliography 281

Index 299

Editorial Reviews

[Petroski] reveals how integral the work of engineers is to our society. The stories assembled are entertaining and often illuminating.”—William Gurstelle, Wall Street Journal

“Petroski is a vivid writer who enlivens potentially tedious descriptions of the forces at play in routine activities with sensory detail. . . . I admire Force for its attempt to immerse readers in the forces shaping our lives.”—Matthew Diasio, Science

“[This] diverse and entertaining analysis of force since ancient times ranges from getting dressed, writing with a pencil and shopping to the design of face masks, buildings and spacecraft.”—Andrew Robinson, Nature

“Petroski [is] a rare engineer whose writing delights general readers. . . . Another gem from a master of technology writing.”—Kirkus Reviews

“Henry Petroski’s poetic prose pairs psychology with physics, producing a joyful joining of fact, fun, and physics. His exploration of the many meanings of force informs while it delights.”—Don Norman, author of The Design of Everyday Things

“Force! From John Keats to Isaac Newton, from pizza boxes to the Forth Bridge, this is a veritable cornucopia that will intrigue and inform the curious reader about a concept often taken for granted.”—Paul Jowitt, professor of civil engineering systems, Heriot–Watt University

“Henry Petroski clearly and accessibly explains the most important idea in classical physics and engineering: the concept of force. His vivid prose illustrates the many ways in which forces enter and influence our everyday lives.”—Howard A. Stone, Princeton University

“Henry Petroski is a true polymath with a superbly holistic perspective. Force is a unified field theory of almost everything, exploring the interdependencies among everyday forces and their effects. Albert Einstein would have loved it.”—Peter G. Neumann, chief scientist, SRI International Computer Science Laboratory

“Force is yet another masterful and even more expansive demonstration of Henry Petroski’s uncommon capacity for demystifying science and engineering and engaging the public broadly. It is a tour de force!”—Ron Latanision, Shell Professor of Materials Science and Engineering (emeritus), Massachusetts Institute of Technology
 

From the Publisher

“Henry Petroski is a true polymath with a superbly holistic perspective. Force is a unified field theory of almost everything, exploring the interdependencies among everyday forces and their effects. Albert Einstein would have loved it.”—Peter G. Neumann, Chief Scientist, SRI International Computer Science Laboratory

Peter Neumann

“Force! From John Keats to Isaac Newton, from pizza boxes to the Forth Bridge, this is a veritable cornucopia that will intrigue and inform the curious reader about a concept often taken for granted.”—Paul Jowitt, Professor of Civil Engineering Systems, Heriot–Watt University

Paul Jowitt

“Force is yet another masterful and even more expansive demonstration of Henry Petroski’s uncommon capacity for demystifying science and engineering and engaging the public broadly. It is a tour de force!”—Ron Latanision, Shell Professor of Materials Science and Engineering (Emeritus), Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Ronald Latanision

“Henry Petroski clearly and accessibly explains the most important idea in classical physics and engineering: the concept of force. His vivid prose illustrates the many ways in which forces enter and influence our everyday lives.”—Howard A. Stone, Princeton University

Howard Stone

“Henry Petroski’s poetic prose pairs psychology with physics, producing a joyful joining of fact, fun, and physics. His exploration of the many meanings of force informs while it delights.”—Don Norman, author of The Design of Everyday Things

Don Norman

“Henry Petroski makes the connection between our experiences in the everyday world to concepts that engineers use to describe that world. He helps us to see the invisible world of forces.”—Bill Baker, Chief Structural Engineer of the Burj Khalifa

Bill Baker

2022-06-01
The veteran engineer and acclaimed science writer examines some basic element of physics.

Petroski, a rare engineer whose writing delights general readers, does not ignore the textbook definition of force as any action that can change the motion of an object, but he casts his net widely. He writes that force in our daily lives allows us to feel “the sensations of push and pull, weight and buoyancy, resistance and assistance, achievement and defeat….Without forces and their effects we would lose contact with the world.” Stretching that point, he adds that the intangible forces of “charisma, persuasion, and influence” can enable someone to create positive social or political movements or reverse them. Petroski concentrates on the science but also includes sizable doses of history and memoir. Surprisingly, we deal with only two forces in our daily lives. That gravity is universal seems reasonable, but readers may be startled to learn that this is literally true: Zero gravity does not exist anywhere. Space station astronauts seem weightless because the gravity pulling them down is counteracted by the centrifugal force of their orbital speed around the Earth. Magnetism is local and often seemingly supernatural. Petroski illustrates this concept through amusing accounts of his childhood toys and the history of the telephone, which, over 150 years, has evolved from a heavy box attached to a wall to a tiny, vastly more complex device that fits in a pocket. Having written The Pencil, The Toothpick, The Evolution of Useful Things, and The House With Sixteen Handmade Doors, Petroski has no trouble delivering an engineer’s view of dozens of tools, structures, containers, and modes of transportation. He’s also insightful in his discussions of everyday actions such as shopping and measuring. Petroski pays special attention to bridges and skyscrapers because lack of attention to forces acting on them can lead to alarming consequences.

Another gem from a master of technology writing.

Kirkus Reviews