Ecodesign: The Sourcebook Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)this book is cool - lots of pictures, the text is brief. there is a good mix of concepts and production products ( concepts are always more fun to look at and have more pure ideas. production parts show how it all works in the real world). in fact, the best part of the book is that it finds positive things about a lot of products. it isn't demanding that we stop using plastic or batteries - just finds the best examples of products that use them wisely.
One important section is buried in the back. pages 327 - 330 give eco-design strategies. the are brief desicriptions of how to design an "eco" product. for example, one says "self-assembly: designs that are assembled by the consumer, therefore saving valuable space in transport and storage". most writers would take several pages to say the same thing.

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Small Things Considered: Why There Is No Perfect Design Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)This book is written by someone who has written other wonderful books about what it means to be an engineer. The topic of this book -- the design of everyday items -- should offer sufficient scope for another interesting book. And indeed, the book has lots of interesting information in it. The main thesis (that design is always imperfect, and the reasons why this is so) seems as if it ought to be sufficiently engaging to hold my attention through a book-length engagement with it.
Alas, the book is so poorly written that it fails on all levels. I gave it three stars because it was quite educational. On the other hand, given the author's track record and the inherent interest of the topic, three stars is an enormous disappointment. Finishing the book was hard, and I would not blame anyone who just gave up. Perhaps the author had a half-book worth of content and was forced to bulk it up to make the required word count? I don't know what happened, but I can't really recommend the book unless you are desperate to know how the paper cup came to be invented.

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