Page 8 - civ_env_sust_eng

Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Engineering (2014/02/09)
______________________________________________________________________________________

The skills of these ingeniators were often applied to the wider advantage to civil society such as canals, brid-

ges and roads and therefore the early concept of civil engineering.

1.1.2. Engineering in the scientific revolution

From the eighteenth through early nineteenth century engineering gradually adopted a scientific approach to

practical problems. Many historians regard Galileo Galilees’ work (1564-1642) as the start of theoretical pre-

dictions in the design of artifacts. Numerous discoveries in the natural sciences and the development of areas

of mathematics such as calculus, built the scientific basis on which engineering could develop in the way it

has. The laws of motion formulated by Newton (1642 – 1727) launched calculus-based mechanics, essential

to most of engineering sciences.

Engineers changed from practical artists to scientific professionals as technical training shifted to enginee-

ring schools. Information flowed in organised meetings and journal publications as professional societies

emerged.

1.1.3. Engineering in the industrial revolution

The industrial revolution is represented by the arrival of electricity, mechanization, mass production and the

replacement of human and animal muscle power by water and steam. Devising ever more ingenious machi-

nes became a new division of engineering. Mining and metallurgy became more important as the importance

of coal and iron increased to e.g. produces steam.

Different engineering roles also developed e.g. engineers conceptualised and designed the machinery while
technicians and artisans were required to manufacture these machines.

Chemical and electrical engineering developed in close collaboration with chemistry and physics. Two exam-

ples are the development of thermodynamics by Willard Gibbs (1839-1903) and laminar flow of fluids by

Osborn Reynolds (182-1912). They laid the foundations of modern mechanical and chemical engineering.

Marine engineers tamed the peril of ocean exploration. Aeronautic engineers turned the ancient dream of

flight into a travel convenience for ordinary people. Industrial engineers designed and managed mass produc-

tion and distribution systems.

College engineering curricula were well established and graduate schools appeared. Workshops turned into

to laboratories, tinkering became industrial research, and individual inventions were organized into systema-

tic innovations.

1.1.4. Engineering the information age

Research and development boomed in all fields of science and technology after World War II, partly because
of the Cold War and the Sputnik effect. The explosion of engineering research, which used to lag behind na-

tural science, was especially impressive, as can be seen from the relative expansion of graduate education.

Engineering was also stimulated by new technologies, notably aerospace, microelectronics, computers, novel

means of telecommunications from the Internet to cell phones. Turbojet and rocket engines propelled aero-

______________________________________________________________________________________

8 / 76