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> Engineers design and build things on top of the discoveries of scientists I agree with a lot in this post, but I think it's also worth mentioning how this is
by j2kun 1y ago
> Engineers design and build things on top of the discoveries of scientists
I agree with a lot in this post, but I think it's also worth mentioning how this is a two-way street. Practical considerations often drive theory research as much as the other way around.
- MathMonkeyMan 1y agoI like to imagine that thermodynamics happened because industrial metallurgy and boiler design advanced to the point where people started asking "what are the fundamental constraints?" There's a chance that it didn't actually happen that way, though. edit: I also heard that Louis Pasteur did work for breweries, answering the question "Why do some batches come out nasty while most are fine, given the same inputs?"
- ludicrousdispla 1y agoThe history of steam engines would suggest that our understanding of thermodynamics developed out of a large base of first-hand experience. Same story for Calculus. And the t-statistic was developed by a QA guy (student) at Guinness.