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Beginning with a Prologue that tells the true story behind Murphy's Law and the Law's true meaning -- You can succeed if you pay attention to things that may fail -- the author takes us on a tour of some of the most fascinating failures of engineered artifacts over the last century, with a focus on the past thirty years. Readers will

• imagine dancing on the Skywalks of the Kansas City Hyatt before their catastrophic fall,
• rock and roll with Galloping Gertie,
• imagine the last ride aboard doomed aircraft,
• feel the agony of the engineers who were fearful before Challenger exploded,
• wonder what the Three Mile Island meltdown means for our future,
• relive the Great Northeast Blackout as they envision potholes on the Information Superhighway,
• feel the terror of the people engulfed by water as a defective dam failed, and Lake Conemaugh became a roaring cascade on its way down the mountain to Johnstown.

Despite all its attention to failure, the book is really about success, a theme that the author establishes in his dedication: "In memory of my father, Harry A. Bortz (1901-1991) who taught me not to fear failure, nor to accept it, but to learn from it in order to succeed." He learned his father's lesson well.

This book was designated a "Selector's Choice" on the National Science Teachers Association - Children's Book Council List of Outstanding Science Trade Books for Children for 1996.