Which excerpt best develops the central idea of The Evolution of Useful Things?

The names commonly associated with some of the most familiar and cherished products on our desks, on the other hand, are obscure, if they are known at all.

One day, when he was dropping off a batch of waterproof sandpaper, Drew overheard some body-shop workers cursing two-tone painting.

Again, it is not that form follows function but, rather, that the form of one thing follows from the failure of another thing to function as we would like.

The basic idea is to allow employees of large corporations to behave within the company as they would as individual entrepreneurs in the outside world.

Question

Adison Gentry

English

20 January, 16:43

Which excerpt best develops the central idea of The Evolution of Useful Things?

The names commonly associated with some of the most familiar and cherished products on our desks, on the other hand, are obscure, if they are known at all.

One day, when he was dropping off a batch of waterproof sandpaper, Drew overheard some body-shop workers cursing two-tone painting.

Again, it is not that form follows function but, rather, that the form of one thing follows from the failure of another thing to function as we would like.

The basic idea is to allow employees of large corporations to behave within the company as they would as individual entrepreneurs in the outside world.

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Answers (1)

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Dominique Reed · Answer 1

The excerpt that best develops the central ideo of Henry Petroski's "The Evolution of Useful Things is the third one:

"Again, it is not that form follows function but, rather, that the form of one thing follows from the failure of another thing to function as it would be."

Petroski argues that what moves inventors to invent are the perceived shortcomings of the products that we use, and how to improve them. Petroski traces the evolution of inventions and how creators involve in the process, and how form follows failure and how to overcome it in the process of technological evolution.