Career Series: Exploring Engineering
Review by Jason Lu
Illustration by Sophia Ye
A lot of us have had trouble deciding where we want to go when we leave school. Fortunately, I lucked out and my decision to investigate the broad field of engineering has not wavered. The library has recently stocked up on books which I would like to share with others who are of similar mind, as well as to advertise to those who are shopping around for potential careers.
by Simon Winchester
This is a book on the degrees of accuracy to which our machines have been built throughout history. It inspects many significant developments in the precision of humanity’s work and how we have utilised this to our advantage and to expand our knowledge.
‘Exactly’ turns the pursuit of exactness in precision engineering into an interesting and entertaining recount of the process in which we perfected the gradual refinement of our machines.
“This phenomenon of precision, like oxygen or the English language, is something we take for granted, is largely unseen, can seldom be fully imagined, and is rarely properly discussed, at least by those of us in the laity.”
― Simon Winchester; ‘Exactly: How Precision Engineers Created the Modern World’
by Donald A. Norman
This book explores the design aspect of engineering: How do you know how to turn on a tap you have never seen before? Why is it that you know where to grab a handle? This book discusses the way we apply our knowledge to create intuitive designs in “everyday things”.
Concerned about the psychology behind the items we keep in our home, ‘The Design of Everyday Things’ reveal the thoughts which lead designers to their end product.
“Good design is actually a lot harder to notice than poor design, in part because good designs fit our needs so well that the design is invisible.”
― Donald A. Norman, The Design of Everyday Things
by Samuel C. Florman
‘The Existential Pleasures of Engineering’ looks back at the history of engineering and the technological advances of our world, in order to assess the existence of engineering, and what
it means for humanity. In pursuit of a “correct” philosophy to approach engineering with, this book weighs up the positive influences engineering has had in our lives against its potentially fatal downfalls.
This book embarks on a journey to seek the true meaning of engineering and leads the reader through a systematic breakdown of why its progress is essential to our lives.
“The existentialist most typically sees the engineer as an antagonist whose analytical methods and pragmatic approach to life are said to be desensitizing and soul deadening – in a word, anti-existential. To show that this adversary relationship is based on a misapprehension of the nature of the engineering experience is – as can be surmised from the title – a principal objective of this book.”
― Samuel C. Florman
by John D. Clark
‘Ignition’ is an informal documentation of rocket propellant research. The author tells of the (relatively tiny) cohort of rocket fuel developers who were responsible for finding the best means to the end - a researcher’s personal reflection of their field’s dangerous work.
The history of rocket fuels is viewed through the lens of one of the field’s very own. In ‘Ignition’ you not only get a good recount, but an informed opinion on its developments.
“In this book I have tried to make that information available, and to tell the story of the development of liquid rocket propellants: the who, and when, and where and how and why of their development. The story of solid propellants will have to be told by someone else.”
― John D. Clare
by J. E. Gordon
‘The New Science of Strong Materials’ discusses the properties and limits of the materials we use to build and create. It shows the reader why some substances fail and others succeed in various situations of stress, and subsequently, why exactly would one use a given material.
Gordon explains how engineers today are able to predict the viability of a structure based off the designer’s use of materials. This is a good read for those who want to understand this crucial component of the world of engineering.
“Instead of accepting our materials as something provided, arbitrarily, by Providence – as people used to do until very recently – we can understand why they behave as they do and moreover, we can see much more clearly how they might be modified and improved. As a consequence, we are beginning to see our way to making radically better materials, unlike anything which has existed before, and these may open up quite new possibilities to the engineers.”
― J. E. Gordon
by John Kuprenas & Matthew Frederick
‘101 Things I Learnt in Engineering School’ compiles a substantial list of life lessons for engineering explained in a succinct and comprehensible way. Each key idea comes with a brief explanation, and with 101 of them, the book covers a wide range of engineering knowledge you should know.
Each concept that is crucial to the understanding of engineering is explained in a two-page spread, often illustrated.
“It is my hope that this book will interest and enlighten college students seeking context for their developing mathematical and scientific knowledge. Inspire practicing engineers to reflect on the subtle relationships in their field, and encourage the layperson to see the engineering world as engineers do: Fascinating, creative, challenging, collaborative, and unfailingly rewarding.”
― John Kuprenas
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