4 ms·

Engineering and science are not the same thing. The astronaut's footprint, earthrise, and atomic bomb are all examples of feats of engineering, not science.

ilikepi 16y ago
Is engineering not the application of science?
- SudarshanP 16y ago
  Yes and No. Engineering definitely applies science. But a common misconception is that "scientists find out stuff, engineers apply it." Therefore somehow science is a kind of foundation. In reality the relation is quiet symbiotic... Both fields depend on each other and stretch human ingenuity to the limits. Engineers and inventors start applying knowledge way before scientists understand how things work. 1) Edison did not keep reading journals about photons, electrons, chemistry of filaments and so on... he starts off with what he knows and uses clever strategies(sometimes even brute force or groping in the dark) to minimize the effect of the unknowns. 2) The wright brothers did not wait for the emergence of the theory of fluid dynamics to make plane fly... they observed birds and kites and what not. Created a wind tunnel using tools they could easily afford, and basically figured out how to iterate like crazy... something like what a modern startup would.
mtinkerhess 16y ago
What a photograph represents (beyond the literal scene depicted) is subjective. To you, these photographs symbolize the engineering task accomplished; to others, they symbolize the science that underlies the engineering, or the broader thirst for knowledge that motivates scientific discovery.
- monk_the_dog 16y ago
  Fair enough. Maybe Henry Petroski instilled a little too much engineering pride in me: http://spectrum.ieee.org/at-work/tech-careers/engineering-is-not-science http://spectrum.ieee.org/at-work/tech-careers/engineering-is... Sorry if I was being a pedantic jerk. BTW, I have these two images hanging in my office. Both are scientists discussing science. Love them. http://ysfine.com/maga/feydirac.jpg http://ysfine.com/maga/feydirac.jpg http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f4/Niels_Bohr_Albert_Einstein2_by_Ehrenfest.jpg http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f4/Niels_Boh...

ilikepi 16y ago

Is engineering not the application of science?

SudarshanP 16y ago
Yes and No. Engineering definitely applies science. But a common misconception is that "scientists find out stuff, engineers apply it." Therefore somehow science is a kind of foundation. In reality the relation is quiet symbiotic... Both fields depend on each other and stretch human ingenuity to the limits. Engineers and inventors start applying knowledge way before scientists understand how things work. 1) Edison did not keep reading journals about photons, electrons, chemistry of filaments and so on... he starts off with what he knows and uses clever strategies(sometimes even brute force or groping in the dark) to minimize the effect of the unknowns. 2) The wright brothers did not wait for the emergence of the theory of fluid dynamics to make plane fly... they observed birds and kites and what not. Created a wind tunnel using tools they could easily afford, and basically figured out how to iterate like crazy... something like what a modern startup would.

mtinkerhess 16y ago

What a photograph represents (beyond the literal scene depicted) is subjective. To you, these photographs symbolize the engineering task accomplished; to others, they symbolize the science that underlies the engineering, or the broader thirst for knowledge that motivates scientific discovery.

monk_the_dog 16y ago
Fair enough. Maybe Henry Petroski instilled a little too much engineering pride in me: http://spectrum.ieee.org/at-work/tech-careers/engineering-is-not-science http://spectrum.ieee.org/at-work/tech-careers/engineering-is... Sorry if I was being a pedantic jerk. BTW, I have these two images hanging in my office. Both are scientists discussing science. Love them. http://ysfine.com/maga/feydirac.jpg http://ysfine.com/maga/feydirac.jpg http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f4/Niels_Bohr_Albert_Einstein2_by_Ehrenfest.jpg http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f4/Niels_Boh...