Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. Subtitled An Inquiry into Values, this book was written by Robert M. Pirsig (born in 1928) and first published in 1974. It has been widely assigned in engineering design courses for its insights into the nature of design and the idea of quality. A tenth-anniversary edition of the book, published by William Morrow and Company in 1984, included a new introduction by the author in which he reflected on the astounding success of a book that had been turned down by 121 other publishers and also on the tragic death of his son, who played a prominent role in the book's narrative. Pirsig, a biochemist by education who became disillusioned with science and eventually came to be identified as a philosopher, has been quoted as believing that “traditional scientific method has always been at the very best, 20-20 hindsight. It's good for seeing where you've been. It's good for testing the truth of what you think you know, but it can't tell you where you ought to go.” That responsibility, at least in the material world, rests more squarely on enlightened and responsible engineering infused with the values of its softer side.