Kobuk the Destroyer: And Other Tales from the Wild, Unseen World of Test Engineering

A rollicking exploration of why the stuff we use (mostly) works—and a celebration of the mad genius of the engineers who ensure it does.

When a manufacturer wants to certify a product as “bear-resistant” —a cooler, a trash can, a camping food canister—they turn to the Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee and its resident panel of product-testing bears. Over the years, one bear has become infamous for his penchant for cracking locking mechanisms and crushing manufacturer dreams, but thereby helping to keep our food—and us— Kobuk the Destroyer.

From “childproof” bottle caps to the cars and planes we ride, such stories underlie the products we use every day and can generally trust to do what they say and not (unexpectedly) dump us out of the sky or blow up. As Alex Davies reveals, this amazing reliability is thanks to the mostly invisible, maniacal, yet methodical work of test engineers, who divine how everything and anything could go wrong and plan for it in advance—using rocket sleds, chicken cannons, and any means necessary. Uncovering the surprisingly profound science behind the fine print on the label, Kobuk the Destroyer is as wildly entertaining as it is illuminating.