Engineering in Society (1985) / Chapter Skim
Currently Skimming:
Pages 85-88
The Chapter Skim interface presents what we've algorithmically identified as the most significant single chunk of text within every page in the chapter.
Select key terms on the right to highlight them within pages of the chapter.
From page 85... ...
Ferguson's story may be taken as a challenge to reexamine what we mean when we speak of the engineering method. Can it be that despite the vast expansion of our engineering knowledge since the sixteenth century, we still are using methods of analysis and design introduced over 400 years ago?
|
From page 86... ...
If this characterization of the engineering method is correct, then this method powerfully influences the determination of which problems are to be considered engineering problems, as well as how those problems are to be analyzed and resolved. While the above description of the engineering method helps spell out some of the ideas associated with this concept, it remains quite abstract and certainly does not provide a sufficient account of the nature of engineering.
|
From page 87... ...
The focus of this particular debate has been the issue of creativity. As Michal McMahon has noted, throughout the twentieth century prominent engineering educators have been particularly concerned about sustaining the leading edge or creative sector of engineering.
|
From page 88... ...
In the present century the debate among engineering educators over creativity has pivoted on the issue of how much and what kind of instruction in scientific subjects should be required of engineering students. Rather than dividing over whether or not engineering students should study science extensively, for all parties agreed they should, the participants in this debate have differed on whether the values of science, and the kinds of knowledge produced under their guidance, are appropriate and fruitful values for engineering.
|
Key Terms
This material may be derived from roughly machine-read images, and so is provided only to facilitate research.
More
information on Chapter Skim is available.