Why Things Break by Mark E. Eberhart, Harmony Books, $24, ISBN 1400047609 Reviewed by Wendy M. Grossman
MARK EBERHART was one weird kid. He became obsessed with why and how things break before he was 6 years old. At 9, he spent his birthday money on 100 ball bearings and some magnets to test his theories.
Why Things Break is framed by these kind of autobiographical details, as Eberhart steps through his career, using each stage as a jumping-off point for a wide-ranging discussion of this area of science. The story of the Challenger disaster and its cold O-rings may…
