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> ...That's one of the reasons I wouldn't consider most people who call themselves software engineers to be an engineer at all. Few people who call themselves

> ...That's one of the reasons I wouldn't consider most people who call themselves software engineers to be an engineer at all. Few people who call themselves (non-software) engineers today are running locomotives. Words can evolve over time.

tbrownaw 4y ago
What does operating locomotives have to do with making sure the thing you're building follows all the rules and has appropriate safety factors and such?
- chowells 4y ago
  Operating trains is literally the origin of "engineer". It was a job that required significant application of accepted rules and methods to calculate acceptable speeds for cornering, hill climbing, and hill descent, especially when they were all combined. Getting outside the acceptable speed ranges could be catastrophic in every single one of those cases, and acceptable speeds could vary significantly depending on weather, train length, and train weight. The job was all about understanding how to correctly apply all the rules and control the vehicle to stay within safety factors.
  - antod 4y ago
    >Operating trains is literally the origin of "engineer" That sounds pretty dubious to me. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smeatonian_Society_of_Civil_Engineers https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smeatonian_Society_of_Civil_En... There were probably earlier usages of the term too. As the article says the Civil bit came about to distinguish themselves from the older profession of Military Engineers.
    - chowells 4y ago
      What "engine" do you think "engineer" is referring to?
      - Jensson 4y ago
        A war machine. Engineer is an old name that existed long before trains. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/engin#Old_French https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/engin#Old_French Edit: Might have heard of the term "Siege engine" as well? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_engine https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_engine
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
criddell 4y ago
Words do evolve. That’s why I said Profession Engineer rather than just engineer. It's a relatively new title (from early 1900's) and in lots of jurisdictions it implies the person is licensed and if something they stamp fails, they can be sued for malpractice and even lose their license to practice.

tbrownaw 4y ago

What does operating locomotives have to do with making sure the thing you're building follows all the rules and has appropriate safety factors and such?

chowells 4y ago
Operating trains is literally the origin of "engineer". It was a job that required significant application of accepted rules and methods to calculate acceptable speeds for cornering, hill climbing, and hill descent, especially when they were all combined. Getting outside the acceptable speed ranges could be catastrophic in every single one of those cases, and acceptable speeds could vary significantly depending on weather, train length, and train weight. The job was all about understanding how to correctly apply all the rules and control the vehicle to stay within safety factors.
- antod 4y ago
  >Operating trains is literally the origin of "engineer" That sounds pretty dubious to me. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smeatonian_Society_of_Civil_Engineers https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smeatonian_Society_of_Civil_En... There were probably earlier usages of the term too. As the article says the Civil bit came about to distinguish themselves from the older profession of Military Engineers.
  - chowells 4y ago
    What "engine" do you think "engineer" is referring to?
    - Jensson 4y ago
      A war machine. Engineer is an old name that existed long before trains. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/engin#Old_French https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/engin#Old_French Edit: Might have heard of the term "Siege engine" as well? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_engine https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_engine
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]

criddell 4y ago

Words do evolve. That’s why I said Profession Engineer rather than just engineer. It's a relatively new title (from early 1900's) and in lots of jurisdictions it implies the person is licensed and if something they stamp fails, they can be sued for malpractice and even lose their license to practice.