The Nature of Engineering

The Nature of Engineering

Dedication This book is dedicated to the increasing number of you ng women who a r e studying f or a degree in engineering. They are intelligent bei ngs who will not be put of f by the continual r eference t o man: they will appreciate t hat i t would have been ridiculously pedantic t o refer repeatedly t o homo sapi ens, 'he or she', and ' ~en or women'.

The Nature of Engineering A philosophy of technology G. F. C. Rogers Professor Emeritus University of Bristol

G F C Rogers 1983 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without permission. Published by THE MACMILLAN PRESS LTD London and Basingstoke Companies and representatives throughout the world ISBN 978-1-349-06685-8 DOI 10.1007/978-1-349-06683-4 ISBN 978-1-349-06683-4 (ebook) The paperback edition of this book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher's prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

Contents 1 INTRODUCTI ON 2 TH E HISTORY OF TECHNOLOGY AND SCI ENCE Craft 10 000 BC to AD 500 Nat ur a l Philos ophy 3000 BC to AD 1400 Science 1400 t o 1700 Tech nics 500 t o 1850 Sci e nce 1700 t o 1850 Dev elopme nt of Engineer ing Education Some Char act e r i s t i cs of Sci e nce an d Technology 3 SCIENTI FI C AND TECHNOLOGI CAL EXPLANATION What is Meant by Explanat ion? Sc i ent i f i c Expl an ation Hi storical Expl anat i on Technological Exp l anat i on Eng i ne er i ng, Technol ogy and E ngi nee ~ing Sci e nce 4 CREATI VI TY AND ENGINEERING DESIGN Engineeri ng as an Ar t? The Creat ive Process Engineering Design 5 CHO I CE OF TECHNOLOGI CAL FUTUPE S Ethica l Pr obl ems Aris ing from Technol ogical Act ivi t y A Code of Ethics for Engi neer s? Broad Ca t egori es of Technology 6 CONTROL OF TECH NOLOGY Technol og i ca l Decision-making Risk Assessment Soc i a l Contro l of Technology 7 A SUMM ING UP - AND SPECULATI ON 1 7 8 10 14 16 21 25 28 32 32 34 41 4 2 51 57 57 61 64 68 68 76 78 8 9 89 92 96 100

Preface This es s ay is a contribut ion to t he cur r ent debate about the impact of t ech nology on our l ives, the ethical problems arising therefrom, and the ways in whi ch soci ety can exercise con t rol. In a de moc r acy, s uch co nt r ol is unlikely t o be e f f ect ive unles s t he public, Ci vi l Service and politician s ha ve a cl ear idea as to the natur 8 cf engineeri ng and the co ndi t ions under whi ch t e chn ologi es de velop an d make their i mpact. In r ecent years en gi neeri ng s tudent s ha ve been encouraged t o think abou t these mat t ers by the r equirements for members hip of t he Council of Engineering Institutions. All univer s iti es and po lytechnics i nclude a subject called ' The Engineer i n Soc iety ' in t heir degree courses. It i s hoped t hat thi s book will be found useful as supplementary readi ng for these students. The book contrasts the history of technology with t ha t of science and attempts t o highlight the essent ial features of technology i n relation to other forms of knowledge. For t hi s reason it has been subtitled ' A Phi losophy of Technology'. The reasons why engineering spawns e t hi ca l problems in t his century are examined, and the pros and cons of advanced techno logy vis-~-vis ' alt er native' technology ar e discussed. The book concludes with a description of recent vi ews on decision-mak ing i n t he t e chnological sphere. I am most grateful t o co l leagues wi t h whom I have discussed parts of the book, and i n pa r t icular to my wife and David Blockley who have be en kind enough t o read the co mpl ete manuscrip t and make helpful s ugges t ions. Gill i an Davis deserve s a special ment ion for her skil l at deciph er i ng my appall i ng handwr iting and for her e f f icient t yping. G. F.C. Rogers 1982