null
Loading... Please wait...
FREE SHIPPING on All Unbranded Items LEARN MORE
Print This Page

Small Things Considered (Why There Is No Perfect Design)

List Price: $20.00
SKU:
9781400032938
Quantity:
Minimum Purchase
25 unit(s)
  • Availability: Confirm prior to ordering
  • Branding: minimum 50 pieces (add’l costs below)
  • Check Freight Rates (branded products only)

Branding Options (v), Availability & Lead Times

  • 1-Color Imprint: $2.00 ea.
  • Promo-Page Insert: $2.50 ea. (full-color printed, single-sided page)
  • Belly-Band Wrap: $2.50 ea. (full-color printed)
  • Set-Up Charge: $45 per decoration
FULL DETAILS
  • Availability: Product availability changes daily, so please confirm your quantity is available prior to placing an order.
  • Branded Products: allow 10 business days from proof approval for production. Branding options may be limited or unavailable based on product design or cover artwork.
  • Unbranded Products: allow 3-5 business days for shipping. All Unbranded items receive FREE ground shipping in the US. Inquire for international shipping.
  • RETURNS/CANCELLATIONS: All orders, branded or unbranded, are NON-CANCELLABLE and NON-RETURNABLE once a purchase order has been received.
  • Product Details

    Author:
    Henry Petroski
    Format:
    Paperback
    Pages:
    304
    Publisher:
    Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group (September 14, 2004)
    Language:
    English
    ISBN-13:
    9781400032938
    ISBN-10:
    1400032938
    Weight:
    9.58oz
    Dimensions:
    5.22" x 7.9" x 0.8"
    Case Pack:
    24
    File:
    RandomHouse-PRH_Book_Company_PRH_PRT_Onix_full_active_D20260705T121706_156890332-20260705.xml
    Folder:
    RandomHouse
    As low as:
    $15.40
    List Price:
    $20.00
    Publisher Identifier:
    P-RH
    Discount Code:
    A
    QuickShip:
    Yes
    Audience:
    General/trade
    Country of Origin:
    United States
    Pub Discount:
    65
    Imprint:
    Vintage
  • Overview

    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.