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The humble engineer, arguably the most useful group of people there ever was or will be. But how did they came to dominate the world and build our civilisation?
A little lesson on history is in order, I believe. |
“Technological advance is an inherently iterative process. One does not simply take sand from the beach and produce a data-probe. We use crude tools to fashion better tools, and then our better tools to fashion more precise tools, and so on. Each minor refinement is a step in the process, and all of the steps must be taken.” - Sheng-ji Yang, "Looking God in the Eye", Sid Meier’s Alpha Centauri
Before we start, let us assume that we are back around 2.5 million years ago, in the days of our ignorant ancestors.
Our australopithecine forefathers have a problem; it’s a tough nut to crack. As a matter of fact, it’s literally a tough nut to crack – the humble walnut. Naturally being hunter-gatherers, they’re familiar with this nutritious source of food, however getting to the good stuff inside is quite a pain. What to do?
Our australopithecine forefathers have a problem; it’s a tough nut to crack. As a matter of fact, it’s literally a tough nut to crack – the humble walnut. Naturally being hunter-gatherers, they’re familiar with this nutritious source of food, however getting to the good stuff inside is quite a pain. What to do?
Sure, that'll work!
The solution is almost intuitive to us now, but the idea of using tools (such as a crude stone hammer) to better our lives came by through painfully slow progression, a process that still holds today. However even a small step can be regarded as leaps of ingenuity, and they are not possible without the visionaries who probe these challenges. Necessity is the mother of invention after all, no?
A Civilizing Force
Following the adage of continuous improvement, the development pattern follows the necessities of the time. As we move from a society of hunter-gatherers to that of permanent settlers, and later into city-states and empires. The increasing need for food, housing, infrastructure requires new concepts in construction, which led to the first engineers.
The earliest specialists in this new craft are most likely civil engineers, of which includes the first geological surveyors, hydrologists, and architects. All of whom are tasked to tame rivers and irrigate crops, design aqueducts to bring water to the people, as well as boosting the ego of the reigning monarch every now and then.
Of course, these projects can’t be done in the old fashioned way. Stone tools are too fragile to carve out a sandstone block? The metallurgist could whip you up a bronze pickaxe. Can’t lift that monolithic column high enough? That’s when the mechanical engineer and his crane steps in. Need to bring a freshly quarried obelisk down the river? A shipwright can probably build a boat large enough.
Note that these specializations have yet to exist. The word “engineer” itself came from the Latin “ingenium”, literally means “cleverness”. The earliest engineers are usually those recognized as the smartest guys around, with extensive knowledge of mathematics, physics and mechanics; and after being ordered by a warlord to do the impossible or lose their heads, they HAVE to be.
Masters of the Industrial Revolution
Lets fast forward to the 18th century, when the humble engineer had begun to be a most indispensable element of society in an era of almost constant geopolitical competition; when the engineer was still a jack of all trades, and more often than not indistinguishable from other men of science.
Within the 18th century, academies of sciences were established throughout Europe, from Lisbon to Berlin to Saint Petersburg, following the footsteps of England’s Royal Society and France’s Académie des Science (established in 1661 and 1666, respectively). And it’s not surprising that the first modern engineers emerge from these learned societies considering their fellow members includes celestial mechanics such as Newton and Liebniz. Coincidence?
Leonhard Euler was such a man who’s scholarly feet are planted on both the theoretical and practical. Now mostly known as a mathematician, Euler’s first claim to fame comes from solving a problem from the French Académie des Sciences (of which he was a member) regarding naval architecture. Euler’s provides the earliest case where mathematics is systematically applied in solving real-world problems, in contrast to the more intuitive methods of the past.
Another source of advancement came in the form of historical experimentation. At the time Ancient Rome and Greece were still seen as a golden age of technological advancement, and many of what they left behind have been either lost or taken for granted – water wheels, roads, automation to name a few.
Figures such as Pierre-Marie-Jérôme Trésaguet and John McAdam revolutionize road transport from studying Roman roads. The basic principles of water-powered pumps are augmented using steam power by Denis Papin and James Watt, based on the works of Hero of Alexandria. And automatons, seen merely as playful trinkets, regained their functional importance with the automated loom of Jacques de Vaucanson, later perfected by Joseph Marie Jacquard.
By the time the Industrial Revolution comes into full swing specialization is a requirement as distinct industries emerge. Chemical engineers in the production of dyes, lubricants and fertilizers; metallurgists in steel production; mechanical engineers in the production of machinery; and later electrical engineers in power production, transmission and communications.
With this, the engineer has finally come of age. From crude toolmakers, to instruments of the state, to scholars and discoverers, and finally inventors and dreamers; the engineer has indeed came a long way, and what we have now is simply the continuation of this grand tradition.
What comes next is anyone’s guess. But if I have to give an answer, then one word would suffice: Transcendence.
A Civilizing Force
Following the adage of continuous improvement, the development pattern follows the necessities of the time. As we move from a society of hunter-gatherers to that of permanent settlers, and later into city-states and empires. The increasing need for food, housing, infrastructure requires new concepts in construction, which led to the first engineers.
The earliest specialists in this new craft are most likely civil engineers, of which includes the first geological surveyors, hydrologists, and architects. All of whom are tasked to tame rivers and irrigate crops, design aqueducts to bring water to the people, as well as boosting the ego of the reigning monarch every now and then.
Of course, these projects can’t be done in the old fashioned way. Stone tools are too fragile to carve out a sandstone block? The metallurgist could whip you up a bronze pickaxe. Can’t lift that monolithic column high enough? That’s when the mechanical engineer and his crane steps in. Need to bring a freshly quarried obelisk down the river? A shipwright can probably build a boat large enough.
Note that these specializations have yet to exist. The word “engineer” itself came from the Latin “ingenium”, literally means “cleverness”. The earliest engineers are usually those recognized as the smartest guys around, with extensive knowledge of mathematics, physics and mechanics; and after being ordered by a warlord to do the impossible or lose their heads, they HAVE to be.
Masters of the Industrial Revolution
Lets fast forward to the 18th century, when the humble engineer had begun to be a most indispensable element of society in an era of almost constant geopolitical competition; when the engineer was still a jack of all trades, and more often than not indistinguishable from other men of science.
Within the 18th century, academies of sciences were established throughout Europe, from Lisbon to Berlin to Saint Petersburg, following the footsteps of England’s Royal Society and France’s Académie des Science (established in 1661 and 1666, respectively). And it’s not surprising that the first modern engineers emerge from these learned societies considering their fellow members includes celestial mechanics such as Newton and Liebniz. Coincidence?
Leonhard Euler was such a man who’s scholarly feet are planted on both the theoretical and practical. Now mostly known as a mathematician, Euler’s first claim to fame comes from solving a problem from the French Académie des Sciences (of which he was a member) regarding naval architecture. Euler’s provides the earliest case where mathematics is systematically applied in solving real-world problems, in contrast to the more intuitive methods of the past.
Another source of advancement came in the form of historical experimentation. At the time Ancient Rome and Greece were still seen as a golden age of technological advancement, and many of what they left behind have been either lost or taken for granted – water wheels, roads, automation to name a few.
Figures such as Pierre-Marie-Jérôme Trésaguet and John McAdam revolutionize road transport from studying Roman roads. The basic principles of water-powered pumps are augmented using steam power by Denis Papin and James Watt, based on the works of Hero of Alexandria. And automatons, seen merely as playful trinkets, regained their functional importance with the automated loom of Jacques de Vaucanson, later perfected by Joseph Marie Jacquard.
By the time the Industrial Revolution comes into full swing specialization is a requirement as distinct industries emerge. Chemical engineers in the production of dyes, lubricants and fertilizers; metallurgists in steel production; mechanical engineers in the production of machinery; and later electrical engineers in power production, transmission and communications.
With this, the engineer has finally come of age. From crude toolmakers, to instruments of the state, to scholars and discoverers, and finally inventors and dreamers; the engineer has indeed came a long way, and what we have now is simply the continuation of this grand tradition.
What comes next is anyone’s guess. But if I have to give an answer, then one word would suffice: Transcendence.
Ponder this
- If engineers are so crucial to our civilisation, why are they not more prominent in our society?
- Engineering is a merit-based profession, meaning that they are results-oriented. How would a society be if it were led by engineers instead? Give examples from history.
Discuss
The history of human civilisation can be simplified as small gradual steps of applying ingenuity to what nature has provided. Can it be said that everything that makes a human 'human' is technology? What about our evolutionary cousins such as the chimpanzee, whom also uses tools to improve their lives? What are the prerequisites to being 'human'?
Further readings
History of engineering at Wikipedia
History of technology at Charles W. Davidson College of Engineering, San Jose State University
