Question

Which excerpt best develops the central idea of The Evolution of Useful Things?

The names commonly associated with some of the most familiar and cherished products on our desks, on the other hand, are obscure, if they are known at all.
One day, when he was dropping off a batch of waterproof sandpaper, Drew overheard some body-shop workers cursing two-tone painting.
Again, it is not that form follows function but, rather, that the form of one thing follows from the failure of another thing to function as we would like.
The basic idea is to allow employees of large corporations to behave within the company as they would as individual entrepreneurs in the outside world.

Answer 1

"Again, it is not that form follows function but, rather, that the form of one thing follows from the failure of another thing to function as we would like."

Reason: Petroski's central idea is that everyday objects evolve through a history of failures and incremental fixes—designs change because earlier versions failed, not simply to conform to an abstract notion of function. This excerpt states that idea directly.