Engineering has always been seen as the application of mathematics. Since the time of Archimedes to Galileo this relationship appears to be a one way street. But as they say, necessity is the mother of invention, and as mathematics became more and more complex, we require better tools to handle the more mundane aspects of it.

This is when application turns back to help formulate theories.

Here's a question. When you've figured out how the building blocks of universe works, what's the first thing you do with that knowledge? The obvious answer: make better versions of the universe itself. Humans have been doing that since the dawn of civilisation: we built monuments using, at first, stone, then bricks, then concrete, and finally steel.

Making better things had always been the prime mover of our ascent to civilisation. And we're still doing it today. That's where material sciences come into play...

Mathematics had always been perceived as an abstract field. You have numbers, symbols, concepts that seems to be the result of overthinking professors. This is, of course, far from the truth. Mathematics, especially applied mathematics, touches every aspect of human civilisation and life.

And in this specific case, may have saved human civilisation and millions of lives.

One of the oldest engineering problems of humanity is how to get to the other side of a river, gorge or any particular gap-based obstacle. Needless to say one of the oldest professions out there is therefore the humble engineer, a job with probably the most overlooked impact to our lives.

This article wouldn't explain everything involved in bridge-building, but it explains enough to that the next time you came across a civil engineer you might get an idea of how he or she thinks in terms of problem solving.