Meet the Pencil Professor

When Henry Petroski looks at a pencil, he sees far more than a simple writing tool. Dr. Petroski, a professor of civil engineering and history at Duke University, views the pencil as a symbol of engineering. In his 1992 book, The Pencil: A History of Design & Circumstance, Dr. Petroski uses the pencil as a representation of the engineer and the pencil-making process as an ideal for the engineering method.

“I decided to approach engineering through the story and symbolism of the common pencil,” writes Dr. Petroski. “The pencil, like engineering itself, is so familiar as to be a virtually invisible part of our general culture and experience.”

In researching his book, Dr. Petroski immersed himself in all of the pencil artifacts and information he could get his hands on.

“I enjoyed researching the history and evolution of the pencil,” the professor says.

Dr. Petroski got so involved in his research that he started collecting hundreds of pencils — pencils of all shapes, sizes, types, and ages. Being an engineer, Dr. Petroski hoped to have enough pencils that he could break some of them apart just to see what makes them work.

Not surprisingly, Dr. Petroski prefers the pencil over the pen. “I like the feeling of writing with a wood pencil,” says the professor. “The aspect I like most about the pencil is that its marks can be erased.”

In addition to his book, The Pencil, Dr. Petroski has published sever other works with pencil-related content. Remaking the World: Adventures in Engineering includes a chapter on sketching with pencils, and Invention By Design: How Engineers Get from Thought to Thing features a whole chapter on pencil points!