Engineers and Scientists

From catapults to missiles, from herbs to immortal pills, from matter to fundamental particles, …, every improvement has the influence of engineering. But what is engineering? Different people have different understanding.

The Random House Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary superficially defines engineering as “the art or science of making practical application of the knowledge of pure science as physics or chemistry to construct engines, bridges, buildings, mines, ships, and chemical plants”. The Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary essentially defines it as “the application of science and mathematics by which the properties matter and the sources of energy in nature are made useful to people”.

I asked ChatGPT; its answer is: Engineering is the application of science, mathematics, and practical knowledge to design, build, improve, and maintain systems, structures, machines, and processes that solve real-world problems.

My answer is: engineering is the application of mathematics (mainly geometry), physics, and chemistry to serve humankind, especially to save and improve human life. Buildings, weapons, and drugs are devices for a person to enjoy his/her life.

Check the departments of the college of engineering in a comprehensive university, there would be programs like:

--Agricultural Engineering

--Aerospace Engineering

--Automated Manufacturing Systems

--Biological Engineering

--Biomedical Engineering

--Chemical Engineering – fuels, pharmaceuticals, materials production.

--Civil Engineering – bridges, buildings, roads, dams.

--Computer Engineering – computer systems and embedded devices.

--Electrical Engineering – power systems, electronics, telecommunications.

--Forest Biomaterials

--Material Science and Engineering

--Mechanical Engineering – engines, robots, manufacturing equipment.

--Nuclear Engineering

--Operation Research

--Software Engineering – applications, websites, operating systems.

--Textile Engineering

 

The main feature of engineering is the team work. The product of a project is the work of many people from many areas. For example, the steam engine was developed gradually through contributions from many inventors over more than a century. Key people include:

--Thomas Savery (1698): Built one of the earliest practical steam-powered pumps to remove water from mines. It had limited efficiency.

--Thomas Newcomen (1712): Created the first widely used practical steam engine, mainly for pumping water out of mines. This is often called the first successful steam engine.

--James Watt (1760s–1770s): Did not invent the steam engine from scratch, but greatly improved it by adding a separate condenser, making it much more efficient and practical for factories and transportation. Because of these improvements, many people associate Watt with “inventing” the steam engine.

--Richard Trevithick (early 1800s): Developed high-pressure steam engines that powered locomotives and mobile machines.

 

The key role played by engineers is the reduction of costs through mass production and simplifying the processes. One example is the production of clothes. Farmers planted cotton, harvested the bolls, and picked the seeds out of the fibers all by hands. Then, workers dyed the fibers, spun it, wove it on a hand loom, to form a piece of cloth. Someone sewed the cloth together with a needle and thread. In old times, clothing was expensive because it required hundreds of hours of manual work. Nowadays, the harvest of cotton can be done by a single machine, and weaving is done by automatic looms. Also, a various of synthetic fibers are available, and clothing is affordable for everyone.

 

I checked some good things that human has been dreamed of: flying car, hoverboard, starship, space elevator, easy underwater breathing, time machine, instant transport; instant healing, food machine, end of poverty; really good batteries, really powerful laser, immortality.

Many of the engineering goals start as imagination. Some ideas become practical (airplanes), some remain expensive (flying cars at scale), and some may require scientific breakthroughs (instant healing, immortality): engineers are waiting for scientists to deliver the fundamental principles.

Scientists are charged with understanding how the universe runs; they do research to answer “what is the principle behind?” For example, when Newton discovered that curved glass bends light, he came up with the mathematical equation describing the bending. From the law of refraction, engineers made a lens.

Engineers usually ask: “How can we build it perfectly under real-world constraints?” When scientists determined the right amount of carbon that creates steel, engineers use the steel to build skyscrapers, bridges, seaports. When steel is too heavy or too weak, they have many other materials to use: aluminum, titanium, carbon fiber, plastics, and so on.

Engineers are like chefs, with the proper recipe formulated by nutritionists (scientists), they can cook delicious foods. But there may be some malicious people who may put poisons into the foods. Greed is the disease that human can never heal.