Abstract
Does engineering need science? I believe that, at first sight, we all agree that the answer to this question is: ”yes”. However there have been pre-scientific civilisations in which engineering has been practised at the highest level (for instance the ancient Egyptians built the great pyramids and regulated the floods of the river Nile). On the other hand, in the present scientific age a number of engineering operations do not exhibit any scientific base or content; this is usual in most routine engineering, but also in some important works. In some cases, thus, the answer to the title question might be: ”no”. Some clarification is needed. In order to contribute to such a clarification, first of all a definition of science and a definition of engineering is needed.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Baran P.A., Sweezy P.M. (1966) Monopoly Capital. An essay on the amer-ican economic and social order. Monthly Review Press, New York
Bell J.F. (1973) The Experimental Foundations of Solid Mechanics. S. Flugge ed., Handbuch der Physik, Band VIa/1, Festkörpermechanik I, Springer Verlag, Berlin, 803 pp.
Cox H. (1856) The deflection of imperfectly elastic beams and the hyperbolic law of elasticity. Trans. Cambridge Phil. Soc. 9, Part II, 177–190
De Boer R., Schiffman R.L., Gibson R.E. (1996) The origins of the theory of consolidation: the Terzaghi — Fillunger dispute. Géotechnique, vol. XLVI, n. 2, 175–186
Dupin P.C.F. (1815) Expériences sur la flexibilité, la force et 1’ élasticité du bois. Journal de 1’ Ecole Royale Polytechnique, 10, 137–211
Fillunger P. (1936) Erdbaumechanik?. Wien: Selbstverlag des Verfassers
Gerhardt G.E. (1855) G.W. Leibniz, Matematische Schriften. Vol. III, part I, 10-13 and 13-20. Georg Olms Verlagsbuchhandlung, Heideisheim (reprinted in 1962)
Hirsch E.D. Jr. (1996) The schools we need, and why we don’t have them. Doubleday, New York
Hodgkinson E. (1843) Experiments to prove that all bodies are in some degree inelastic, and a proposed law for estimating the deficiency. Report of the 13th Meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, Cork, 23–25
Hodgkinson E. (1844) Experimental inquiries into the falling-off from perfect elasticity in solid bodies. Report of the 14th Meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, York, Section 2, 25–27
Hooke R. (1678) Lectures de Potentia Restitutiva of Spring, explaining the power of springing bodies. John Martin, London
Iron Commission (1849) Report of a commission appointed by the British Government to conduct a study on the use of iron and cast iron in the construction of railroads and bridges. Whitehall, 26 July
Mariotte E. (1700) Traité du mouvement des eaux et des autres corps fluides. Nouvelle édition, Paris
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Constructed Facilities Division (1974) Proceedings of the Foundation Deformation Prediction Symposium. MIT, Rep. FHWA-RD-75-515/16, pp. 164+315
Morin A.J. (1862) Résistance des matériaux, 3me édition. Comptes Rendues de l’Académie des Sciences, Paris, 54, 235–238
Price D.J. (1974) Gears from the Greeks. The Antikythera mechanism, a calendar computer from ca. 80 B.C. Trans. Amer. Phil. Soc., vol. 64, part 7
Readings B. (1996) The University in Ruins. Harvard University Press, Boston
Russo L. (1997) La rivoluzione dimenticata. Il pensiero scientifico greco e 1a scienza moderna. Feltrinelli, Milano. 382 pp.
Russo L. (1998) Segmenti e bastoncini. Dove sta andando la scuola?, Feltrinelli, Milano, 144 pp.
Terzaghi K., FrÖHlich O.K. (1936) Theorie der Setzung von Tonschichten: eine Einführung in die Analytische Tonmechanik. Deuticke, Leipzig
Vicat L.J. (1833) Note sur l’allongement progréssif du fil de fer soumis á divers tensions. Annales de Chimie et de Physique, II, 54, 35–40
Von Gerstner F.J. (1831) Handbuch der Mechanik, Band I. Herbig, Leipzig
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2000 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Viggiani, C. (2000). Does engineering need science?. In: Kolymbas, D. (eds) Constitutive Modelling of Granular Materials. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-57018-6_2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-57018-6_2
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-642-63115-3
Online ISBN: 978-3-642-57018-6
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive