James R. Chiles began writing about technology and history while a student at the University of Texas Law School.
His first piece was a 1979 Texas Monthly article on the Pantex nuclear weapons assembly plant in Amarillo, Texas.
He began writing features for Smithsonian in 1983, and since that time has published features and cover stories
there and in Audubon, Air & Space, Harvard magazine, and American Heritage of Invention & Technology. He
lives in Minnesota.
Review
"ultimatly hopeful, recounting numerous acts of foresight or bravery in the face of bureaucratic opposition"
--Publisher's Weekly
"Looks at a range of calamities over the past 200 years and tries to find a common theme among them."
--Stanley W. Angrist, Wall Street Journal
"Full of scary news, but unsensational and thoroughly documented. Just don't read it in flight."
--Kirkus Reviews
Publisher Web Site, January, 2003
Summary
Explaining in vivid layman's terms how machines fail and deadly accidents result, this book draws on a wide range of disasters--some famous, some obscure --and combines riveting storytelling with eye-opening findings to show what happens when the reach for new technology exceeds a realistic grasp. Features a new Introduction.
