
Wicked Problems
How to Engineer a Better World
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
3 months free
Buy for $20.99
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Walter Dixon
-
By:
-
Guru Madhavan
About this listen
Our world is filled with pernicious problems. How, for example, did novice pilots learn to fly without taking to the air and risking their lives? How should cities process mountains of waste without polluting the environment? Challenges that tangle personal, public, and planetary aspects-often occurring in health care, infrastructure, business, and policy-are known as wicked problems, and they are not going away anytime soon.
In linked chapters focusing on key facets of systems engineering, engineer Guru Madhavan illuminates how wicked problems have emerged throughout history and how best to address them in the future. He examines best-known tragedies and lesser-known tales, from the efficient design of battleships to a volcano eruption that curtailed global commerce, and how maintenance of our sanitation systems constitutes "tikkun olam", or repair of our world. Braided throughout is the uplifting tale of Edwin Link, an unsung hero who revolutionized aviation with his flight trainer.
An homage to society's innovators and maintainers, Wicked Problems offers a refreshing vision for listeners of all backgrounds to build a better future and demonstrates how engineering is a cultural choice-one that requires us to restlessly find ways to transform society, but perhaps more critically, to care for the creations that already exist.
©2024 Guru Madhavan (P)2024 HighBridge, a division of Recorded BooksListeners also enjoyed...
-
Why We Remember
- Unlocking Memory's Power to Hold on to What Matters
- By: Charan Ranganath PhD
- Narrated by: Mark Deakins, Charan Ranganath PhD
- Length: 7 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Memory is far more than a record of the past. In this groundbreaking tour of the mind and brain, one of the world’s top memory researchers reveals the powerful role memory plays in nearly every aspect of our lives, from recalling faces and names, to learning, decision-making, trauma and healing.
-
-
nothing soectacularly revealing
- By paul d. on 06-12-25
-
Humble Pi
- When Math Goes Wrong in the Real World
- By: Matt Parker
- Narrated by: Matt Parker
- Length: 9 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Exploring and explaining a litany of glitches, near misses, and mathematical mishaps involving the internet, big data, elections, street signs, lotteries, the Roman Empire, and an Olympic team, Matt Parker uncovers the bizarre ways math trips us up, and what this reveals about its essential place in our world. Getting it wrong has never been more fun.
-
-
Fascinating & enlightening even for da mathphobic✏️
- By C. White on 01-23-20
By: Matt Parker
-
Look Again
- The Power of Noticing What Was Always There
- By: Tali Sharot, Cass R. Sunstein
- Narrated by: Imani Jade Powers, Byron Wagner
- Length: 6 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Have you ever noticed that what is exciting on Monday tends to become boring on Friday? Even passionate relationships, stimulating jobs, and breathtaking works of art lose their sparkle after a while. As easy as it is to stop noticing what is most wonderful in our lives, it’s also possible to stop noticing what is terrible. People get used to dirty air. They become unconcerned by their own misconduct, blind to inequality, and are more liable to believe misinformation than ever before.
-
-
Great beginning, didn’t quite stick the landing
- By Jacob on 03-27-24
By: Tali Sharot, and others
-
Nuts and Bolts
- Seven Small Inventions That Changed the World (in a Big Way)
- By: Roma Agrawal
- Narrated by: Roma Agrawal
- Length: 8 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Some of engineering's mightiest achievements are small in scale, even hidden—and yet, without them, the complex machinery on which our modern world runs would not exist. In Nuts and Bolts, Roma Agrawal examines seven of these extraordinary elements: the nail, the wheel, the spring, the lens, the magnet, the string, and the pump. From the physics behind both Roman nails and modern skyscrapers to rudimentary springs that inspired lithium batteries, Agrawal shows us how even the most sophisticated items are built on the foundations of these ancient and fundamental breakthroughs in engineering.
-
-
Okay
- By Mandy on 06-29-24
By: Roma Agrawal
-
Our Moon
- How Earth's Celestial Companion Transformed the Planet, Guided Evolution, and Made Us Who We Are
- By: Rebecca Boyle
- Narrated by: Rebecca Lowman
- Length: 12 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Many of us know that the Moon pulls on our oceans, driving the tides, but did you know that it smells like gunpowder? Or that it was essential to the development of science and religion? Acclaimed journalist Rebecca Boyle takes listeners on a dazzling tour to reveal the intimate role that our 4.51-billion-year-old companion has played in our biological and cultural evolution.
-
-
Interesting but with annoyances
- By J. Pegg on 04-13-24
By: Rebecca Boyle
-
The Code Book
- The Science of Secrecy from Ancient Egypt to Quantum Cryptography
- By: Simon Singh
- Narrated by: Patty Nieman
- Length: 10 hrs and 27 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In his first book since the best-selling Fermat's Enigma, Simon Singh offers the first sweeping history of encryption, tracing its evolution and revealing the dramatic effects codes have had on wars, nations, and individual lives. From Mary, Queen of Scots, trapped by her own code, to the Navajo Code Talkers who helped the Allies win World War II, to the incredible (and incredibly simple) logistical breakthrough that made internet commerce secure, The Code Book tells the story of the most powerful intellectual weapon ever known: secrecy.
-
-
clarity
- By Maria on 04-19-25
By: Simon Singh
-
Why We Remember
- Unlocking Memory's Power to Hold on to What Matters
- By: Charan Ranganath PhD
- Narrated by: Mark Deakins, Charan Ranganath PhD
- Length: 7 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Memory is far more than a record of the past. In this groundbreaking tour of the mind and brain, one of the world’s top memory researchers reveals the powerful role memory plays in nearly every aspect of our lives, from recalling faces and names, to learning, decision-making, trauma and healing.
-
-
nothing soectacularly revealing
- By paul d. on 06-12-25
-
Humble Pi
- When Math Goes Wrong in the Real World
- By: Matt Parker
- Narrated by: Matt Parker
- Length: 9 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Exploring and explaining a litany of glitches, near misses, and mathematical mishaps involving the internet, big data, elections, street signs, lotteries, the Roman Empire, and an Olympic team, Matt Parker uncovers the bizarre ways math trips us up, and what this reveals about its essential place in our world. Getting it wrong has never been more fun.
-
-
Fascinating & enlightening even for da mathphobic✏️
- By C. White on 01-23-20
By: Matt Parker
-
Look Again
- The Power of Noticing What Was Always There
- By: Tali Sharot, Cass R. Sunstein
- Narrated by: Imani Jade Powers, Byron Wagner
- Length: 6 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Have you ever noticed that what is exciting on Monday tends to become boring on Friday? Even passionate relationships, stimulating jobs, and breathtaking works of art lose their sparkle after a while. As easy as it is to stop noticing what is most wonderful in our lives, it’s also possible to stop noticing what is terrible. People get used to dirty air. They become unconcerned by their own misconduct, blind to inequality, and are more liable to believe misinformation than ever before.
-
-
Great beginning, didn’t quite stick the landing
- By Jacob on 03-27-24
By: Tali Sharot, and others
-
Nuts and Bolts
- Seven Small Inventions That Changed the World (in a Big Way)
- By: Roma Agrawal
- Narrated by: Roma Agrawal
- Length: 8 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Some of engineering's mightiest achievements are small in scale, even hidden—and yet, without them, the complex machinery on which our modern world runs would not exist. In Nuts and Bolts, Roma Agrawal examines seven of these extraordinary elements: the nail, the wheel, the spring, the lens, the magnet, the string, and the pump. From the physics behind both Roman nails and modern skyscrapers to rudimentary springs that inspired lithium batteries, Agrawal shows us how even the most sophisticated items are built on the foundations of these ancient and fundamental breakthroughs in engineering.
-
-
Okay
- By Mandy on 06-29-24
By: Roma Agrawal
-
Our Moon
- How Earth's Celestial Companion Transformed the Planet, Guided Evolution, and Made Us Who We Are
- By: Rebecca Boyle
- Narrated by: Rebecca Lowman
- Length: 12 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Many of us know that the Moon pulls on our oceans, driving the tides, but did you know that it smells like gunpowder? Or that it was essential to the development of science and religion? Acclaimed journalist Rebecca Boyle takes listeners on a dazzling tour to reveal the intimate role that our 4.51-billion-year-old companion has played in our biological and cultural evolution.
-
-
Interesting but with annoyances
- By J. Pegg on 04-13-24
By: Rebecca Boyle
-
The Code Book
- The Science of Secrecy from Ancient Egypt to Quantum Cryptography
- By: Simon Singh
- Narrated by: Patty Nieman
- Length: 10 hrs and 27 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In his first book since the best-selling Fermat's Enigma, Simon Singh offers the first sweeping history of encryption, tracing its evolution and revealing the dramatic effects codes have had on wars, nations, and individual lives. From Mary, Queen of Scots, trapped by her own code, to the Navajo Code Talkers who helped the Allies win World War II, to the incredible (and incredibly simple) logistical breakthrough that made internet commerce secure, The Code Book tells the story of the most powerful intellectual weapon ever known: secrecy.
-
-
clarity
- By Maria on 04-19-25
By: Simon Singh