Anything that people make is going to break. This is inevitable. It's a direct consequence of unavoidable, fundamental laws of the universe.
Part of the art of engineering is to control where, and after how long, things will break. We can't prevent failure entirely, but we can focus our efforts on the most critical items and we can ensure that the complete system – an engine, boat, spacecraft, whatever – is unlikely to fail at all within a certain service life.
Recent comments