Engineering: A Very Short Introduction

David Blockley

Very Short Introductions

• Examines the role and identity of engineering in comparison with science, technology, art, and craft
• Defines the five ages of engineering - gravity, heat, electromagnetism, information, and systems - in order to show how the specialisms relate to one another
• Uses examples of everyday 'tools', such as a mobile telephone, to describe how engineering actually works
• Explores the historical development of engineering as a discipline
• Part of the bestselling Very Short Introductions series - over five million copies sold worldwide

Engineering: A Very Short Introduction

David Blockley

Very Short Introductions

Description

Engineering: A Very Short Introduction

David Blockley

Very Short Introductions

Table of Contents

Engineering: A Very Short Introduction

David Blockley

Very Short Introductions

Author Information

Engineering: A Very Short Introduction

David Blockley

Very Short Introductions

From Our Blog

Engineering a new capitalism for the 21st century

Former Governor of the Bank of England, Mark Carney has observed that society has, unfortunately, come to embody Oscar Wilde's old aphorism: 'knowing the price of everything but the value of nothing".

Posted on November 5, 2021

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Practical wisdom and why we need to value it

By David Blockley Aristotle saw five ways of arriving at the truth ' he called them art (ars, techne), science (episteme), intuition (nous), wisdom (sophia) and practical wisdom - sometimes translated as prudence (phronesis). Ars or techne (from which we get the words art and technical, technique and technology) was concerned with production but not action. Art had a productive state, truly reasoned, with an end (i.e. a product) other than itself (e.g. a building).

Posted on July 11, 2014

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When are bridges public art?

By David Blockley The costly controversy over the abandonment of the ambitious Wear Bridge scheme and current plans by Sunderland City Council to 'reduce down to a simpler design' is a manifestation of what can happen when thinking about various forms of art is confounded.

Posted on September 20, 2013

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The ingenious problem-solving of the modern-day engineer

By David Blockley Engineering is everywhere. We rely on it totally and yet, most of us tend to take it for granted. Do you ever stop to wonder how the water gets to your taps or the electricity to your home? From the water we drink, the food we eat, the electricity we use, the tools we work with, the gadgets that entertain us, to the cars, trains and aeroplane we travel in, we all too often fail to think about the engineers who make it happen, the skills they need and the challenges they face.

Posted on April 6, 2012

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