Important issues that were brought up in Science –Technology-Society: It’s as Simple as XYZ! by Kranzberg is, “technology has become ‘autonomous’ and is pursued for its own sake” and another would be that” as well as , “ technology is the prime factor in shaping our values, institutions, and other elements of our society” (236). These two quotes were interesting to me because I remembered some one in class mentioning that the engineering is the same all around the world. And because I also have that assumption so to me the comment means that the concepts and interpretations of enginneering should be similar because it is understood the same globally. However, these quotes demonstrated to me that interpretations of engineering are different and there must be a reason why. I read the history of France and Britain and noticed how they different their history was. This lead me see how the history of engineering affected the meaning engineering in that country.
When reading about France and Britain, I realized how different these two countries were when it came to concerning engineering. To me it seemed the engineering in Britain was never readily accepted as a form of education as Meikins and Smith point out in Engineering Labor, “Engineers have found it difficult to separate themselves from their manual, craft origins and therefore issues of states have bedeviled the occupations for over a century.” (28). The beginnings have shaped the engineers of Britain in a completely different way when compared to France and/or the United States. Since engineering was identified as being a manual work, then the past of engineering in France, through my view, would have affected the development of engineering. However, in France, the French Revolution provided, a way for change to come to the engineering world. Ermenc explains in The French Heritage of Engineering Schools, “…in 1794 when a combined military and public works engineering school was begun. Admission was secured by competitive examination “(145). He also goes on to explain that the, “…first institution of higher learning to be established after the Revolution was an engineering school and the prototype of the modern engineering college.” He also goes on to explain that the United States got their education and knowledge of an effective engineering institution form France. Once again, the evolution of engineering in France affected how high of a standard engineering was held to. At the same time, I felt it was important to note that France started from “scratch” and the United States was able to model their schools from France. So even though, the United States modeled engineering education after France does not mean their experiences and the evolving idea of engineering was the same because France did go through a Revolution (radical) and the history of the United States differs from that of France.
These two different countries have different views and beginnings of engineering and this , to me, felt important in pointing out the concept that engineering is global or worldwide is challenged. It is challenged because the beginnings of engineering are different, specifically in France and Britain. And referring to the quotes at the beginning of my essay demonstrates that engineering and its purpose can be interpreted differently, that also demonstrates that engineering is different and not the same. I do not mean to pick on the comment made in class that engineering is global but it sparked my interest as to why and where the comment came from. Because I saw I was not alone in that form of thinking. I saw engineering as numbers.
However, through the readings, the history and different meanings of engineering also struck me as interesting because I also felt that engineering was the same and universal. So I also came to question my own assumption. At the same time, I do have to take note that I am only comparing two countries. And through this class I hope to learn more about this history and different meaning of engineering. I also understand that the meaning global could have different meanings. Was global/worldwide meant in the way that engineering is practice everywhere? Global in the way that engineer collaborates with different cultures? As I am writing this reading response more thoughts are popping in my head but I feel it may be confusing, so ill leave it at that.
Daisy, I think this is an interesting point you bring up. In class we have spent a majority of our discussions about the global quality of engineering in reference to the differences regarding engineering practices in different countries. For example the French model's influence on the U.S. demonstrates how the engineering practices are linked around the world.
ReplyDeleteHowever we must consider the context of these articles as well. Since the subject is industrialized nations the perspective of other nations, third world nations, whose engineering may look very different than these nations, is not included. We maybe be surprised to see the similarities and between engineering practices as exemplified by France and the U.S. but we must also remember that although they are different countries they still represent a similar mindset for doing engineering, that is influenced by a Western, industrialized mindset. This is just a little expansion on your original thought.
Similar to Daisy, after the discussion we had in class, I was under the impression that engineering, and the history of engineering was similar around the world. It was extremely interesting the see the two very different paths taken by Britain and France to arrive at their settling points in engineering today. I thought it was definitely worth noting the difference in involvement by each government.
ReplyDeleteWhile Britain made a many gradual changes over decades, France, led by Napoleon and the French revolution, made a drastic leap in their engineering and technological advances in just a few years. Government played a huge role in all engineering and technological advances for the French while Britain's engineering leaps were led by previous engineers who had made a name for themselves.
Another point that I felt was worthy of not was the impact these two had on U.S. engineering. Britain hardly had any influence while France was responsible for the creation of one of our nations most prestigious and well-known Universities in the country, The United States Military Academy - which was influenced by Grandes Ecoles.
So as much as engineering is believed to be the same around the world, I would beg to differ.