content: I purchased this book at the Duke University bookstore, after the recommendation from a professor at another institution.Petroski's prose is extremely dense and verbose. His style consists of run-on sentences which require several readings. Even if it is technically (grammatically) correct, it is extremely difficult to read. The subject matter is dry to begin with, however, Petroski does nothing to liven it. I am an engineer also, and am not threatened by the technical information (admittedly lifted from his students' term papers). I have chemical engineering textbooks that read like a novel. Hopefully the courses he teaches are clearer than this muddled prose.Petroski is certainly an engineer. He has engineered an elegant method of making money from saps like us. I successfully engineered Petroski's book into a beverage coaster to help drown the sorrows of wasting $14 on this book.