This is a well-written biography about one of the leading industrial designers of the 20th century. Anyone who has ever marvelled at the simple elegance of the 'round' thermostat has Henry Dreyfuss to thank, and this book tells much of his story.

I just recently flipped through this book and definitely stopped me from looking for the actually book I was looking for. If you love symbols, this is it. It contains symbols from areas such as medical field to underground symbols used by hobos, which I found pretty interesting. It contains in depth symbolism of colors. Virtually all symbols that you might recognize or not are here. Check it out.

This is one of the best books on symbols by one of the best designers of the 20th Century! It includes everything from technical symbols to hobo and astrology signs. If you are an interactive designer this book will prove to be a useful tool for research for icon design.

I use Symbol Sourcebook as a bible for interpreting meaning from it's very thorough pages. It is full of insightful and seemingly rare symbols. From engineering to chemistry to any other form of language through symbol this book by Mr. Dreyfuss is astounding. It is my reference for many, many corporate identity projects.

This is the easiest to use and probably most comprehensive book of human measurement, in my opinion. The data provided in this book is of extreme value to anybody designing anything that physically interacts with human bodies. This is the only complete source of anthropometric data, that I know of, for children of virtually every age range.

However, some of the extrapolated data in the book is impractical for real use. For example, children's furniture dimensions recommended by this book are generally too small as they appear to be based upon exact proportions of adult recommendations. This is inappropriate because children's bodies and minds are not exact scale models of adult bodies.

Overall, though, I still recommend this book highly, but also recommend very careful use of it.

Rich in visual and graphical material, calculations, diagrams and in-scale drawings of various humans (both sexes), in varous situations... Interesting and important reference tool for the industrial designer. (one of the very few available on the market today)

This book, written in 1955, is relevant today in the same way that Fred Brooks' Mythical Man Month has retained its relevance over time.

I found this book very pleasant to read, because Dreyfuss explains his approach to design consulting in an almost anecdotal way without sacrificing the seriousness of the subject. For example, while discussing the importance of investigating users needs, he tells stories about having driven locomotives, spread manure, and performing service calls for the phone company. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that the tone of the book lacked the kind of egoism often seen in books like this. Dreyfuss uses language like "we," "our contribution," and "the industrial designer," and includes examples of mistakes and missteps as well as good design examples. In fact, chapter 15, "Not by Design," is devoted to instances where the practitioners made errors and mistaken assumptions.

I recommend reading this book; the design principles put forth transcend many years, and it is as entertaining as it is informative..