The House with Sixteen Handmade Doors: A Tale of Architectural Choice and Craftsmanship

The House with Sixteen Handmade Doors: A Tale of Architectural Choice and Craftsmanship

Author: Henry Petroski

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company

Published: 2014-05-05

Total Pages: 313

ISBN-13: 0393242056

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An architectural whodunit that unlocks the secrets of a hand-built home. When Henry Petroski and his wife Catherine bought a charming but modest six-decades-old island retreat in coastal Maine, Petroski couldn’t help but admire its unusual construction. An eminent expert on engineering, history, and design, he began wondering about the place’s origins and evolution: Who built it, and how? What needs, materials, technologies, historical developments, and laws shaped it? How had it fared through the years with its various inhabitants? Sleuthing around dimly lit closets, knotty-pine wall panels, and even a secret passage—but never removing so much as a nail—Petroski zooms in on the details but also steps back to examine the structure in the context of its time and place. Catherine Petroski’s beautiful photographs capture the clues and the atmosphere. A vibrant cast of neighbors and past residents—most notably the house’s masterful creator, an engineer-turned-“folk architect”—become key characters in the story. As the mystery unfolds, revealing an extraordinary house and its environs, this ode to loving design will leave readers enchanted and inspired.


Book Synopsis The House with Sixteen Handmade Doors: A Tale of Architectural Choice and Craftsmanship by : Henry Petroski

Download or read book The House with Sixteen Handmade Doors: A Tale of Architectural Choice and Craftsmanship written by Henry Petroski and published by W. W. Norton & Company. This book was released on 2014-05-05 with total page 313 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An architectural whodunit that unlocks the secrets of a hand-built home. When Henry Petroski and his wife Catherine bought a charming but modest six-decades-old island retreat in coastal Maine, Petroski couldn’t help but admire its unusual construction. An eminent expert on engineering, history, and design, he began wondering about the place’s origins and evolution: Who built it, and how? What needs, materials, technologies, historical developments, and laws shaped it? How had it fared through the years with its various inhabitants? Sleuthing around dimly lit closets, knotty-pine wall panels, and even a secret passage—but never removing so much as a nail—Petroski zooms in on the details but also steps back to examine the structure in the context of its time and place. Catherine Petroski’s beautiful photographs capture the clues and the atmosphere. A vibrant cast of neighbors and past residents—most notably the house’s masterful creator, an engineer-turned-“folk architect”—become key characters in the story. As the mystery unfolds, revealing an extraordinary house and its environs, this ode to loving design will leave readers enchanted and inspired.

The House with Sixteen Handmade Doors: A Tale of Architectural Choice and Craftsmanship

The House with Sixteen Handmade Doors: A Tale of Architectural Choice and Craftsmanship

Author: Henry Petroski

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company

Published: 2014-05-05

Total Pages: 313

ISBN-13: 0393242048

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

An architectural whodunit that unlocks the secrets of a hand-built home. When Henry Petroski and his wife Catherine bought a charming but modest six-decades-old island retreat in coastal Maine, Petroski couldn’t help but admire its unusual construction. An eminent expert on engineering, history, and design, he began wondering about the place’s origins and evolution: Who built it, and how? What needs, materials, technologies, historical developments, and laws shaped it? How had it fared through the years with its various inhabitants? Sleuthing around dimly lit closets, knotty-pine wall panels, and even a secret passage—but never removing so much as a nail—Petroski zooms in on the details but also steps back to examine the structure in the context of its time and place. Catherine Petroski’s beautiful photographs capture the clues and the atmosphere. A vibrant cast of neighbors and past residents—most notably the house’s masterful creator, an engineer-turned-“folk architect”—become key characters in the story. As the mystery unfolds, revealing an extraordinary house and its environs, this ode to loving design will leave readers enchanted and inspired.


Book Synopsis The House with Sixteen Handmade Doors: A Tale of Architectural Choice and Craftsmanship by : Henry Petroski

Download or read book The House with Sixteen Handmade Doors: A Tale of Architectural Choice and Craftsmanship written by Henry Petroski and published by W. W. Norton & Company. This book was released on 2014-05-05 with total page 313 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An architectural whodunit that unlocks the secrets of a hand-built home. When Henry Petroski and his wife Catherine bought a charming but modest six-decades-old island retreat in coastal Maine, Petroski couldn’t help but admire its unusual construction. An eminent expert on engineering, history, and design, he began wondering about the place’s origins and evolution: Who built it, and how? What needs, materials, technologies, historical developments, and laws shaped it? How had it fared through the years with its various inhabitants? Sleuthing around dimly lit closets, knotty-pine wall panels, and even a secret passage—but never removing so much as a nail—Petroski zooms in on the details but also steps back to examine the structure in the context of its time and place. Catherine Petroski’s beautiful photographs capture the clues and the atmosphere. A vibrant cast of neighbors and past residents—most notably the house’s masterful creator, an engineer-turned-“folk architect”—become key characters in the story. As the mystery unfolds, revealing an extraordinary house and its environs, this ode to loving design will leave readers enchanted and inspired.

The Road Taken

The Road Taken

Author: Henry Petroski

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA

Published: 2017-02-21

Total Pages: 337

ISBN-13: 1632863626

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A renowned historian and engineer explores the past, present, and future of America's crumbling infrastructure. Acclaimed engineer and historian Henry Petroski explores our core infrastructure from both historical and contemporary perspectives, explaining how essential their maintenance is to America's economic health. Petroski reveals the genesis of the many parts of America's highway system--our interstate numbering system, the centerline that divides roads, and such taken-for-granted objects as guardrails, stop signs, and traffic lights--all crucial to our national and local infrastructure. A compelling work of history, The Road Taken is also an urgent clarion call aimed at American citizens, politicians, and anyone with a vested interest in our economic well-being. Physical infrastructure in the United States is crumbling, and Petroski reveals the complex and challenging interplay between government and industry inherent in major infrastructure improvement. The road we take in the next decade toward rebuilding our aging infrastructure will in large part determine our future national prosperity.


Book Synopsis The Road Taken by : Henry Petroski

Download or read book The Road Taken written by Henry Petroski and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2017-02-21 with total page 337 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A renowned historian and engineer explores the past, present, and future of America's crumbling infrastructure. Acclaimed engineer and historian Henry Petroski explores our core infrastructure from both historical and contemporary perspectives, explaining how essential their maintenance is to America's economic health. Petroski reveals the genesis of the many parts of America's highway system--our interstate numbering system, the centerline that divides roads, and such taken-for-granted objects as guardrails, stop signs, and traffic lights--all crucial to our national and local infrastructure. A compelling work of history, The Road Taken is also an urgent clarion call aimed at American citizens, politicians, and anyone with a vested interest in our economic well-being. Physical infrastructure in the United States is crumbling, and Petroski reveals the complex and challenging interplay between government and industry inherent in major infrastructure improvement. The road we take in the next decade toward rebuilding our aging infrastructure will in large part determine our future national prosperity.

Success Through Failure

Success Through Failure

Author: Henry Petroski

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Published: 2018-05-29

Total Pages: 256

ISBN-13: 0691180997

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Examines many of the failed designs and inventions that led to greater improvements siting as examples the 1940 collapse of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge and the space shuttle disasters.


Book Synopsis Success Through Failure by : Henry Petroski

Download or read book Success Through Failure written by Henry Petroski and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2018-05-29 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Examines many of the failed designs and inventions that led to greater improvements siting as examples the 1940 collapse of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge and the space shuttle disasters.

To Forgive Design

To Forgive Design

Author: Henry Petroski

Publisher: Harvard University Press

Published: 2012-04-13

Total Pages: 427

ISBN-13: 0674065433

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Argues that failures in structural engineering are not necessarily due to the physical design of the structures, but instead a misunderstanding of how cultural and socioeconomic constraints would affect the structures.


Book Synopsis To Forgive Design by : Henry Petroski

Download or read book To Forgive Design written by Henry Petroski and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2012-04-13 with total page 427 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Argues that failures in structural engineering are not necessarily due to the physical design of the structures, but instead a misunderstanding of how cultural and socioeconomic constraints would affect the structures.

The Book on the Bookshelf

The Book on the Bookshelf

Author: Henry Petroski

Publisher: Vintage

Published: 2010-12-01

Total Pages: 308

ISBN-13: 0307773280

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From the author of the highly praised The Pencil and The Evolution of Useful Things comes another captivating history of the seemingly mundane: the book and its storage. Most of us take for granted that our books are vertical on our shelves with the spines facing out, but Henry Petroski, inveterately curious engineer, didn't. As a result, readers are guided along the astonishing evolution from papyrus scrolls boxed at Alexandria to upright books shelved at the Library of Congress. Unimpeachably researched, enviably written, and charmed with anecdotes from Seneca to Samuel Pepys to a nineteenth-century bibliophile who had to climb over his books to get into bed, The Book on the Bookshelf is indispensable for anyone who loves books.


Book Synopsis The Book on the Bookshelf by : Henry Petroski

Download or read book The Book on the Bookshelf written by Henry Petroski and published by Vintage. This book was released on 2010-12-01 with total page 308 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the author of the highly praised The Pencil and The Evolution of Useful Things comes another captivating history of the seemingly mundane: the book and its storage. Most of us take for granted that our books are vertical on our shelves with the spines facing out, but Henry Petroski, inveterately curious engineer, didn't. As a result, readers are guided along the astonishing evolution from papyrus scrolls boxed at Alexandria to upright books shelved at the Library of Congress. Unimpeachably researched, enviably written, and charmed with anecdotes from Seneca to Samuel Pepys to a nineteenth-century bibliophile who had to climb over his books to get into bed, The Book on the Bookshelf is indispensable for anyone who loves books.

The Story of a House

The Story of a House

Author: George Towle

Publisher: BoD – Books on Demand

Published: 2024-01-11

Total Pages: 326

ISBN-13: 3368854259

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Reprint of the original, first published in 1874.


Book Synopsis The Story of a House by : George Towle

Download or read book The Story of a House written by George Towle and published by BoD – Books on Demand. This book was released on 2024-01-11 with total page 326 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Reprint of the original, first published in 1874.

Small Things Considered

Small Things Considered

Author: Henry Petroski

Publisher: Vintage

Published: 2007-12-18

Total Pages: 306

ISBN-13: 0307427803

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Why has the durable paper shopping bag been largely replaced by its flimsy plastic counterpart? What circuitous chain of improvements led to such innovations as the automobile cup holder and the swiveling vegetable peeler? With the same relentless curiosity and lucid, witty prose he brought to his earlier books, Henry Petroski looks at some of our most familiar objects and reveals that they are, in fact, works in progress. For there can never be an end to the quest for the perfect design. To illustrate his thesis, Petroski tells the story of the paper drinking cup, which owes its popularity to the discovery that water glasses could carry germs. He pays tribute to the little plastic tripod that keeps pizza from sticking to the box and analyzes the numerical layouts of telephones and handheld calculators. Small Things Considered is Petroski at his most trenchant and provocative, casting his eye not only on everyday artifacts but on their users as well.


Book Synopsis Small Things Considered by : Henry Petroski

Download or read book Small Things Considered written by Henry Petroski and published by Vintage. This book was released on 2007-12-18 with total page 306 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Why has the durable paper shopping bag been largely replaced by its flimsy plastic counterpart? What circuitous chain of improvements led to such innovations as the automobile cup holder and the swiveling vegetable peeler? With the same relentless curiosity and lucid, witty prose he brought to his earlier books, Henry Petroski looks at some of our most familiar objects and reveals that they are, in fact, works in progress. For there can never be an end to the quest for the perfect design. To illustrate his thesis, Petroski tells the story of the paper drinking cup, which owes its popularity to the discovery that water glasses could carry germs. He pays tribute to the little plastic tripod that keeps pizza from sticking to the box and analyzes the numerical layouts of telephones and handheld calculators. Small Things Considered is Petroski at his most trenchant and provocative, casting his eye not only on everyday artifacts but on their users as well.

Craft in America

Craft in America

Author: Jo Lauria

Publisher: Potter Style

Published: 2007

Total Pages: 323

ISBN-13: 0307346471

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Illustrated with 200 stunning photographs and encompassing objects from furniture and ceramics to jewelry and metal, this definitive work from Jo Lauria and Steve Fenton showcases some of the greatest pieces of American crafts of the last two centuries. Potter Craft


Book Synopsis Craft in America by : Jo Lauria

Download or read book Craft in America written by Jo Lauria and published by Potter Style. This book was released on 2007 with total page 323 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Illustrated with 200 stunning photographs and encompassing objects from furniture and ceramics to jewelry and metal, this definitive work from Jo Lauria and Steve Fenton showcases some of the greatest pieces of American crafts of the last two centuries. Potter Craft

Beautiful My Mane in the Wind

Beautiful My Mane in the Wind

Author: Catherine Petroski

Publisher: Horizon Book Promotions

Published: 1983

Total Pages: 31

ISBN-13: 9780395330746

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Imagining herself to be a horse, a young girl escapes from the loneliness and frustrations of everyday life into the smooth, green, windy world of horses.


Book Synopsis Beautiful My Mane in the Wind by : Catherine Petroski

Download or read book Beautiful My Mane in the Wind written by Catherine Petroski and published by Horizon Book Promotions. This book was released on 1983 with total page 31 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Imagining herself to be a horse, a young girl escapes from the loneliness and frustrations of everyday life into the smooth, green, windy world of horses.