A Commonplace Book

Category: engineering...

  • the application of science to the optimum conversion of the resources of nature to the uses of humankind
  • the words engine and engineer coming from a Latin root meaning "to create"
  • using scientific principles to design or develop structures, machines, apparatus, or manufacturing processes
  • the function of the scientist being to know while that of the engineer being to do
  • the engineer bringing his/her knowledge to bear on practical problems, solving problems as they arise and devising the optimum solution
  • the continual development of new resources as well as the efficient utilization of existing ones
  • the first engineer known by name and achievement: Imhotep, builder of the pyramid at Saggarah, Egypt, c 2550 BC
  • feats such as the Pharos Lighthouse of Alexandria, Colosseum in Rome, the Persian and Roman road systems, the Pont du Gard aqueduct in France
  • A good engineer is a person who makes a design that works with as few original ideas as possible. There are no prima donnas in engineering. (F. Dyson)

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