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Social Theorist

Charles Perrow

Also Known As Chick Perrow
Sociology

Charles Bryce Perrow was an American sociologist, born February 9, 1925, and a leading figure in organizational sociology. He spent most of his career as a professor of sociology at the State University of New York at Stony Brook and at Yale University. His best known book, Normal Accidents, examined how the complexity and tight coupling of large technological systems, such as nuclear power plants, make catastrophic failure an inevitable feature of the system rather than merely the result of individual operator error. He was primarily concerned throughout his career with the impact of large organizations on society. He died November 12, 2019.

Facts
Birth Date
1925-02-09 1
Birth Year
1925 1
Death Date
2019-11-12 1
Death Year
2019 1
Birthplace
Tacoma, Washington, US 1
Death Place
New Haven, Connecticut, US 1
Nationality / Culture
American 1
Defining Contribution
Theory of normal accidents: catastrophic accidents are inevitable in tightly coupled and complex systems 1
Notable Work
Normal Accidents: Living With High Risk Technologies 1
Connections

Associated With

Perrow Normal Accidents examined how complex, tightly coupled corporate and industrial organizations produce accidents that are built into the system itself.

In the Other Atlases
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Charles Perrow
  • Wikidata Q363706, P569 date of birth
    1925-02-09
  • Infobox, birth_date
    1925-02-09
  • Lead, first sentence, dates
    November 12, 2019
  • Infobox, death_date
    2019-11-12
  • Infobox, birth_place
    Tacoma, Washington, US
  • Infobox, death_place
    New Haven, Connecticut, US
  • Wikidata Q363706, P27 country of citizenship
    United States
  • Lead, first sentence, alternate name
    or Chick Perrow
  • Notable works, normal accidents theory sentence
    catastrophic accidents that are inevitable in tightly coupled and complex systems
  • Notable works
    Normal Accidents: Living With High Risk Technologies
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