| Engineering And Science Contrasted |
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:You see things; and you say "Why?" But I dream things that never were; and I say "Why not?" : George Bernard Shaw Science is ''pure'', it is about knowledge - how and why things behave the way they do. Engineering is ''applied'', it uses ''scientific knowledge'' to ''engineer'' a solution to some problem. For example, a scientist might measure the strength of bars made from various materials and of various sizes, determine a law expressing how much each material deforms under various loads and then attempt to explain the law in terms of more fundamental principles. An engineer designing a window Lintel could use that information to determine of what material and how large the lintel should be. In practice, this distinction is not always clear. Engineers often perform experiments to investigate phenomena; scientists often design solutions to practical problems. Still, the desire to make this distinction between purity and practicality endures. Such a boundary is clearly indistinct. The engineer employs ''imagination'' to envision and ultimately to create what has never been. He or she asks "How?" of nature, and seeks to organize its knowledge toward service to man's imagination. The scientist employs ''curiosity'' to examine and ultimately to understand what has always been, but heretofore unexamined. He or she asks "Why?" of nature, and seeks to expand its knowledge, and with it man's imagination and capacity to transform his material world. Engineering designs objects such as lintels to be parts of systems like buildings and communities. Engineering is the practice of complexity, of diverse units (spars, fairings, avionics, actuators, etc.) organized as a coherent system (airplane). Science is the practice of simplicity, looking at distinct units to comprehend their function according to describable and repeatable rules. |
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