Uploaded by Rishanthi Ramakrishnan

1. History of Engineering

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History of Engineering
Dr Lum Kit Meng
School of Civil & Environmental Engineering
Ref: Engineering & Society, Chapter 1 & 2
History of Engineering
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A chronologies of past events to help us to
understand why things happened.
Presents the past in a way that makes more
sense of the present.
Gives meaning to the continuity to a
multiplicity of apparently unrelated events
to make the connection between
engineering & different aspects of human
society.
History of Engineering
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When did engineering really begin?
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What is the connection between technology,
science, & engineering?
How the physical
world works?
For the use and
convenience of man
Solving problems
and meeting needs
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How does engineering affect society & the world we
live in?
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How do engineering activities affect you as an
engineer in the future?
Cai Lun (蔡伦; CE 48–121): invented
the composition for paper along
with the papermaking process
History of Engineering
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Technology, science & engineering emerged
as distinct areas of human endeavor at
different periods of human history.
The relationships between the activities
associated with them have changed and will
continue to evolve over time.
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Technology is a form of human cultural
activity for practical ends & purposes.
It involves forming & transforming the
material world through ideas & thoughts; it
is typically done with the aid of tools &
procedures.
Technology is about solving problems &
meeting needs in the real world.
It includes products, processes & systems
that takes into account the environment
required for their development & use.
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The origin of technology dates from the Stone
Age.
Earliest human ancestors were huntergatherers, taking advantage of animal life and
seasonal variation of plant produce.
Adopted systematic “technological actions” to
survive.
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Made tools from wood and stone for
survival purposes.
Stones were fractured to produce sharp
edges for cutting.
Others include grinding stones, the wedge,
carrying yoke, the ax & the spear.
Developed the controlled use of fire,
fashioning of clothing & utensils for
domestic use.
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Fertile river valleys provided favorable
conditions for crop growth.
Domesticated animals as beasts of burdens.
Establishment of agrarian society; e.g., in
Mesopotamia, the Nile Valley, others in India
& China.
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Primitive sledge for crop transportation.
Use of level in balance beam for weighing
(5000 B.C. in Egypt).
Use of wheel – potter’s wheel, chariots,
(3500 B.C. in Mesopotamia).
Smelting & working of metals.
Large-scale control of water resources in
river-based societies.
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Mesopotamians built
using brick.
Egyptians built using
stones; e.g., the Great
Pyramid of Gizeh – 230m
square, 147m high,
using massive stone
blocks (2 to 30 tons each)
assembled with such
accuracy that remains
impressive today.
The Greek culture that
followed was built on
Egyptian foundations.
Source: National Geographic
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Cultural history centred on
Greece & Rome: Troy (Achilles)
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The Greeks laid the first philosophical & scientific
basis for knowledge (600 B.C.).
Philosophers such as Thales, Socrates & Plato
attempted to explain the world on the basis of
rationality rather than myth.
Greek technological achievements were not
spectacular because scholars disdained practical
craft skills.
Euclid, Pythagoras & Plato struggled to find
philosophical basis for natural phenomena &
humanity’s place in the universe.
Archimedes (287-212 B.C.) used mechanical
models to arrive at mathematical results, but
discarded them in his proofs.
History of Engineering
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Romans inherited Greek philosophy & mathematics
but did not encourage abstract science.
Engineering practice became more recognizable.
Had engineers competent in contracts,
specifications & costing, that built road systems as
key military technology.
Roads facilitated rapid troop movement throughout
the empire.
Romans also excelled in hydraulics bringing water
to towns in large stone aquaducts & reticulating it
in lead pipes.
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Like Greece, Rome became technologically
stagnant.
Productivity was limited by widespread use of
slaves that precluded efforts to develop
labor-saving technology.
Engineering advances in the military &
transport fields driven by imperial endeavors
to invade & fortify cities.
The Roman Empire crumbled around 400 500 A.D.
History of Engineering
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Relative chaos after the Roman Empire collapsed.
Expanding population led to cultivation of forested
lowlands that required “new” agricultural
technology to till the heavy soils of Northern
Europe.
By 900 A.D., feudalism emerged – kings & powerful
nobles gave land grants (not ownership) to
members of their retinues who then rendered
military services.
Peasants became serfs to work the lands – led to
primitive accumulation of capital that gave rise to
middle class of peasants.
Political sovereignty was fragmented; led to growth
of free cities.
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City/town growth led to commodity
production.
Formation of medieval craft guilds which
planned production & supervised, trained &
even employed workmen.
Economy based on serfs and craft workers
rather than slaves encouraged the use of
labor-saving technology.
Moving away from agriculture production
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Outbreak of bubonic plague, “the black
death” in Europe in A.D. 1348.
Over 40% loss of population over two
generations – labor shortage.
Power based on land holding was
challenged by town-based merchants.
Led to a move away from feudalism.
Power was increasingly centralized in
monarchies – monarchs were suspicious of
feudal barons.
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Emergence of medieval technologies in
military & printing helped to strengthen the
monarchies.
Monarchs introduced standing armies,
permanent bureaucracy, taxation, law and
the beginnings of unified markets.
Rich monarchs, backed by powerful
merchants, set the conditions for the rise of
merchant capitalism.
Ships set sail to open the way for the
discovery of the New World of America.
Emergence of Merchant Capitalism
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Rediscovery of ancient Greek & Roman
culture & the discovery of America brought
new ideas & knowledge to Europe.
Poets, artists & sculptors embraced new
humanistic perspectives that were far from
medieval religious symbolism.
Centers were established for learning in
theology, law & medicine.
Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) – the best
example of a Renaissance man.
Not just production but Arts as well
History of Engineering
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At the end of the 16th
century, observation &
experiment presented
challenges to centuriesold dogma to present a
new view of nature.
Galileo Galilee
1564 - 1642
Galileo (1564-1642)
developed the telescope
– from observation of
Jupiter’s satellites,
concluded that the Earth
revolved round the Sun.
History of Engineering
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Francis Bacon (15611626) was an enthusiast
for industrial science –
used inductive approach
to draw conclusions from
experimental data.
Rene Descartes (15961650) emphasized
deductive approach
through mathematics.
Advocated that science &
religion should be
separated – promoted the
advance of science.
History of Engineering
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In the 17th century, the rise of capitalism led to
renewed interest in the practical orientation of
knowledge in artisans’ trade practices.
Intellectual assumptions & attitudes toward
knowledge from the Middle Ages yielded to a new
view of the world – knowledge was much less
controlled by the Church.
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The Earth-centered cosmos of Aristotle gave way
to the acceptance of the solar system.
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The universe was seen to obey Newton’s law –
knowledge became a means of controlling nature.
Knowledge for ALL
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With ships fitted with navigational aids & firearms,
Europe set out to explore & conquer foreign lands
to seize new resources.
In the 16th century, Spain & Portugal led the
overseas conquests for gold, silver, etc.
In the early 17th century, the Netherlands
dominated world trades & founded profitable
empires in the East & West Indies.
Britain used its large coal deposits to drive its
industries; surpassed the Netherlands to build a
vast colonial empire.
Exploration
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Monopolies in mining, manufacturing & foreign
trade were granted by monarchs to their court
favorites & merchant guilds.
In 1624, British parliament reduced the royal
power.
Land holding under the feudal system was officially
abolished – large estates of the defeated Royalists
were sold.
Rich merchants implemented efficient large-scale
scientific farming practices that led to increase in
productivity to satisfy the expanding markets – the
Agricultural Revolution.
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By early 18th century, urban merchants with
banking & exchange practices gained control of
commodity production.
Capitalist formed new social class & challenged
religious authority & hereditary privileges.
They emphasized individual freedom to invest &
trade as he saw fit.
Plunder from the colonies helped to finance the
European industrial take-off.
Continuous exploitation of colonial resources
sustained European industrial growth & left a
legacy of under-developed colonies.
Rising Capitalism
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In England, the guilds were weakened by antimonopoly legislation.
In 1709, Abraham Darby discovered how to use
coal to smelt iron – important raw materials to
make machines & structures.
In 1776, Adam Smith described the division of
labor in pin making that greatly increased workers’
productivity.
Once production processes were standardized,
each process could then be replaced by a machine.
Development of these machines completed the
transformation to modern industrial production.
Technological enhancement
History of Engineering
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Mechanization of tasks led to profusion of
machines – for spinning, sewing, iron smelting, etc.
Journeymen reduced to machines minders – people
sold their raw labor power to owners of factories &
mills.
The industrial revolution provided employment for
those displaced from the land.
Social & economic impact of the industrial
revolution – population growth.
Population growth was both an underlying cause &
a fuel for the industrial revolution – provided labor
for new industries & markets for their products.
Machine taking over
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Steam power was harnessed for use in machines by
early 17th century.
In 1698, Thomas Savery invented & patented a
primitive steam engine. It was James Watt who
improved on the efficiency of the engine &
introduced adaptation in 1782 to produce rotary
motion.
James Watt’s (1736-1819) improved steam engine
drove new machinery that took British industry to
world leadership.
Steam engine formed the basis for the rise of the
mechanical engineering profession.
Steam Engine
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In 1804, Richard Trevithick built the first steampowered locomotive.
In 1825, wrought iron rails were introduced and
the success of George Stephenson’s “Rocket”
locomotive in 1829 set the stage for the railway
age.
Railway enabled the ability to move people & goods
quickly, reliably & economically – opened up
broader markets for goods & services.
The building of railroads was a major factor in the
colonization of much of the rest of the world.
Moving far and wide
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John Rennie
(1716 - 1821)
ICE, 1820
John Smeaton
(1724 - 1792)
Thomas Telford
(1757 - 1834)
1st President of
First British Civil Engineer
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Marc Isambard Brunel
(1769 - 1849)
Isambard Kingdom Brunel
(1806 - 1859)
George Stephenson
(1781 - 1848)
1st President of
IMechE,1847
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The Crystal Palace Exhibition in London in 1851
was a celebration of British engineers and
engineering, as it marked the high point of British
industrial ascendancy.
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Moral worth of a
person is determined
by its outcome
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Settlers in US were extremely utilitarian –
dissenters from established churches.
Saw knowledge as a commodity to satisfy human
needs – a frontier spirit of inventiveness.
American entrepreneurs designed industrial
equipment that reduced their dependence on labor.
American engineers took the lead in machine shop
techniques to develop effective grinding & milling
machines.
American system of manufacture was characterized
by highly standardized products of interchangeable
parts.
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The early American Republic leaders recognized
the need to encourage domestic manufacture,
especially basic military equipment.
Expansion of American railroads opened up
national markets for machine tools.
Tensions arose between slave-owning South and
the rapidly industrialized North led to the
devastating American Civil War (1861-1865) – both
sides fought with “modern” weapons.
After the civil war, the railroads united the nations
to move ahead with greater momentum – the 1st
trans continental rail link saw trainloads of baffalo
skins going east for manufacture into consumer
products.
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Robert Fulton (1765-1815) –
best known for his pioneering
work on steamboats.
Robert Fulton
Eli Whitney (1765-1825) –
patented a simple cotton gin
to separate fibre from seeds.
Milling machine with automatic
feed in 1820.
History of Engineering
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Britain’s loss of industrial leadership from 1850s
onwards reflected complacency in society at large.
The peaceful & protracted transfer of power from
aristocracy to rising capitalist state fostered a selflimiting development in Britain.
Industrialization in Britain was indigenous – more
accommodated to existing social structure.
Pressures to adopt values & interests of
industrialization were resisted by the ruling elite –
hence, Britain did not change radically & have
barely done so even now.
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Universities emphasized on pursuit of
scientific knowledge for its own sake –
neglected & undervalued commercial
application.
British preoccupation with individually fitted
final product discouraged standardization –
precipitated Britain’s relative decline.
Dominance of the steam engine delayed
other form of power development in Britain.
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France & Germany developed the internal
combustion machine w/o real competition.
In the US, consumers were prepared to buy
standard items, creating the opportunity for mass
production.
Technological convergence in the US whereby a
range of key metal-working industries emerged
with common technological needs.
The same machine tools were used across a range
of industries – over several decades within the
same manufacturing enterprises, there was a
progression of products from guns to machine
tools, to sewing machines, bicycles, motorcycles, &
finally to automobiles.
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Innovative
development of
machine tools & their
use to produce
standardized
interchangeable
parts, paved the way
for Henry Ford to use
moving assemblyline techniques to
produce
automobiles.
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From 1860 to 1900, manufacturing replaced
agriculture as the leading source of economic
growth in US.
In the 2nd half of the 19th century, the
manufacturing industry was itself transformed –
manufacturers shifted to producing products for
consumers to producers.
Heavy industry – steel, iron, petroleum & machinery
grew rapidly, boosted by a number of technical
innovations.
Price of raw materials fell – stimulated new
demands & further technological changes.
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Bismarck became
Chancellor of
Germany in 1871
and led a concerted
drive towards
industrialization.
Created stateowned national
railway to open up
internal market.
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Push to expand foreign trade in the export
of industrial products.
German government strongly promoted
education relevant to industrialization.
German manufacturers set up closely
integrated industrial research laboratories.
By 1900, Germany had surpassed Britain as
an industrial power, especially in the field of
university-level technical expertise.
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Sir Henry Bessemer
(1813 - 1898)
Gustave Eiffel
(1832 - 1923)
Thomas Alva Edison
(1847 - 1931)
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During the Industrial Revolution, engineer training
in Britain involved paying a substantial fee for a 5year pupilage in an engineer’s office.
Britain did not establish engineering schools (@
London & Glasgow Universities) until 1840.
Failure to recognized the need for systematic
science-based education for technologists allowed
other countries to overtake Britain.
Formal & informal associations of practicing
engineers, manufacturers, & scientists allowed
exchange of ideas & experience in the general
development of the engineering profession.
UK
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One early leader of the engineering profession was
John Smeaton, the 1st Englishman to differentiate
himself as a “Civil” engineer (rather than military).
In 1771, Smeaton & some colleagues formed the
Smeatonian society of Civil Engineers.
The Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) was formed
in 1818 to distinguished itself from other societies.
In 1920, Thomas Thelford, a leading engineer of
that time, became the President of ICE.
In 1928, he obtained the Royal Charter for ICE to
give it the status as the leader of the profession.
UK
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Other major powers adopted a much more
structured approach to training engineers.
In 1676, France set up a specialized army
Corps of Engineers.
In 1747, France established the 1st
engineering school, the Ecole Nationale des
Ponts st Chaussees.
In 1794, the Ecole Polytechnique was
established.
The engineering profession in France
continues to enjoy high social status. France
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US Military Academy at West Point, established in
1802, was the first American military engineering
school.
The first non military engineering school in America,
the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, was established
in 1823 in New York.
The success of Rensselaer in attracting students
forced other established US universities to introduce
technical courses.
Germany established Berlin University in 1809 –
prototype for the modern research university with
academic rigor & laboratory experiments.
Germany also established polytechnics – the 1st at
Karlsruhe in 1825.
US
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In Japan, the Meiji Restoration of 1868 dismantled
the Japanese feudal system.
The Meiji government set up the physical &
educational infrastructure for industrialization.
The Imperial College of Engineering was
established in Tokyo in 1873 – emphasized
practical & academic skills.
By the end of the Meiji era in 1912, there were 4
Imperial Universities, all with engineering facilities.
Military training centers, such as the Japanese
Naval Academy (1870), were also important for
engineering education.
Japan
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The history of the engineering profession reflected
the transformation wrought by technological
changes.
In the 17th & 18th century, civil engineering was
increasingly differentiated from military
engineering.
Mechanical engineering came with the steam engine
& railroads in the late 18th and early 19th century.
As engineering practice developed, many
specializations were added to these basic
disciplines.
Engineering specialization
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The previous role of science had been to explain &
systemize what the engineer had done.
Technical innovations led to major advances in
science.
By mid 19th century, craft skills & technical knowhow required much closer interaction between
science & engineering.
By end 19th century, major new industries emerged
based on science & systematic research.
Individual inventors & engineers gave way to
scientists & industrial researchers & in time to large
scale R&D development departments associated
with industrial enterprises.
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1851 – Crystal Palace Exhibition
1869 – Union Pacific Railroad across US, Suez Canal
opened
1876 – Invention of telephone, 1st internal
combustion engine
1878 – Beginning of electric lighting
1900 – Invention of radio
1903 – Wilbur Wright’s propeller biplane flight
1913 – Ford moving assembly line
1914 – Panama Canal opened
1926 – Invention of TV
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1930
1942
1947
1957
1958
1969
1977
1981
1982
1996
1997
– Invention of gas turbine
– 1st electronic computer
– Invention of transistor
– Sputnik launched
– 1st integrated circuit
– 1st man on the moon
– 1st personal computer
– Microsoft MS-DOS computer operating system
– Compact disc
– “Dolly” the cloned sheep was born on 5 July
onwards - …
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History of ICE & IMech E:
◦ www.ice.org.uk
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Achievements in the 20th century by US Academy of
Engineering:
◦ www.greatachievements.org
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UK engineers and inventions – timeline:
◦ www.engineering-timelines.com
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Inventors and inventions
◦ https://www.thoughtco.com/inventions-4133303
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Legends of Silicon Valley
◦ www.thetech.org/revolutionaries
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And many other relevant websites
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