The Design Way

Approached with mixed feelings of excitement and hesitancy, the second edition sets out to refine the first edition's ideas and add new ones — arguing for design as a distinct culture of inquiry rather than a derivative of science.

Core structure

• Preface to the Second Edition
• Acknowledgments from First Edition
• THE FIRST TRADITION
• FOUNDATIONS
• The Ultimate Particular
• Service

Main ideas

• It was with mixed feelings of excitement and hesitancy that we approached the opportunity and concomitant responsibility for developing a second edition of this book
• Many people have helped us in developing both the content of this book and its form
• Humans did not discover fire — they designed it
• Although it is common to assume that any new way of thinking must be defined by a new paradigm (Kuhn 1962), it is equally important to uncover the conceptual foundations upon which a new culture of inquiry plans to stand
• As we noted earlier, scientists tend to label ancient human designs, such as fire or the wheel, as "discoveries" because of their bias toward observation away from imagination

Why it matters

The book argues that design is a first tradition — a way of producing the artificial world that stands beside science and art rather than under them. It frames design as intentional, value-laden inquiry, which connects directly to Fuller's design-science program.

Sources

• the_design_way/ — book project directory (repo-local source tree)
• the_design_way/index.md — book project index
• the_design_way/the_design_way.md — full book text