The world is full of wonderful products and services that occasionally disappoint and even harm us. "Unexpected Consequences: Why The Things We Trust Fail" explores the reasons these failures occur, examining them from technological, human, and organizational perspectives. Using more than 40 recent catastrophic events to illustrate its points, the book discusses structural and machine failure, but also the often-overlooked failure of people and of systems related to such things as information technology, healthcare, and security.

As the book demonstrates, faulty technology played a...