Table of Contents

Preface and Acknowledgments
1. Introduction: Engineering As Knowledge
2. Design and the Growth of Knowledge: The David Wing and the Problem of Airfoil Design, 1980-1945
3. Establishment of Design Requirements: Flying-Quality Specifications for American Aircraft, 1918-1943
4. A Theoretical Tool for Design: Control-Volume Analysis, 1912-1953
5. Data for Design: The Aur Propeller Test of W.F. Durand and E.P. Lesley, 1916-1926
6. Design and Production: The Innovation of Flush Riveting in American Airplanes, 1930-1950
7. The Anatomy of Engineering Design Knowledge
8. A Variation-Selection Model for the Growth of Engineering Knowledge
Notes
Index

About the Author

Walter G. Vincenti is professor emeritus of aeronautical engineering at Stanford university, past chairman of Stanford's Program in Values, Technolgy, Science, and Society, and a member of the National Academy of Engineering.

Reviews

'Must' reading for all thoughtful engineers and historians of technology, and even for those physical scientists who wonder why engineers frequently act and think differently than do basic scientists. American Scientist The biggest contribution of Vincenti's splendidly crafted book may well be that it offers us a believably human image of the engineer. Technology Review The biggest contribution of Vincenti's splendidly crafted book may well be that it offers us a believably human image of the engineer. Techology Review