Wicked Problems: How to Engineer a Better World

Guru Madhavan. Norton, $29.99 (288p) ISBN 978-0-393-65146-1

Principles of systems engineering (understanding how discrete factors interact to influence outcomes) can be used to solve complicated problems, according to this scattered argument from biomedical engineer Madhavan (Applied Minds). Case studies highlight engineering projects that required nontechnical knowledge to reach their full potential. For instance, Madhavan points to mid-20th-century efforts to make automobiles safer, explaining the technical aspects of airbag deployment and arguing that the devices didn’t reach their maximum effectiveness until a public relations campaign convinced drivers to pair them with seat belts. Interstitial chapters comprise a biography of Ed Link, whom Madhavan credits with embodying “the philosophy of systems engineering” for inventing early flight simulators in the 1930s, which involved reducing the sensation of flying to distinct components that could be recreated artificially. Unfortunately, the Link material comes across as tacked on rather than logically integrated with the case studies. Madhavan’s detailed discussions of the intersections of technical and civil engineering demonstrate his considerable erudition, but it’s difficult to glean takeaways from his meandering explorations of flood control on the Mississippi River, New York City’s wastewater treatment facilities, and road maintenance in 19th-century Paris. A secondary thesis arguing that systems engineering can help save democracy never really comes together. This gets lost in the weeds. Photos. (Mar.)