History of Engineering

What is Engineering?
Engineers use their knowledge of
math and natural sciences to create,
using the materials
and forces of nature,
solutions to problems
that affect mankind
What problems did the
first “engineers” solve?
 Safety
 Fortifications
 Walls
 Water
 Wells
 Canals
 Food
 Canals
 Irrigation
Earliest Engineers?

3300 b.c. - Egyptians develop

dikes and canals.
Archeological records show the
builders used primitive
surveying instruments to lay out
the canals.
Next, the King’s Monuments!
 2700 b.c. - Imhotep
builds first pyramid at
Sakkara
 2500 b.c. - Great
Pyramids built at Giza
 Depends heavily on
labor - time is not a
concern
The People’s Comfort
 2000 b.c. - Sumerian builders develop
canals, temples, city walls
 1800 b.c. - Hammarubi develops first
building code in Babylonia
 700 b.c. - Assyrians develop the first public
water supply - 30 miles of canals to feed
Ninevah. (First use of concrete!)
 200 b.c. - Water supply to Pergamum
includes an elevated reservoir, line pressure
over 300 psi.
Trade!
 450 b.c. - Greek
architectons build
harbor at Samos
 200 b.c. - 3300 foot
long tunnel through
solid limestone at
Samos
 Ship building, light
houses, etc.
Conquest!
 312 b.c. - Romans build
Appian Way
 214 b.c. Chinese build 1700
mile long wall
 Conquest of other lands
leads to sharing of
knowledge
 Moors in Spain
 Roman influence throughout
the west
Roman Creations
 312 b.c. - Appian Way, Aqua Appius
 17 b.c. - Aggripa builds Pantheon
 98 a.d. - Alcantra bridge in Spain
 175 feet high, 600 feet long
 dry masonry construction
 122 a.d. - Hadrian’s Wall
 Roman cities were planned, developed
to fit the surrounding environment
Other Cultures
 Mayan: 12,000 B.C. to 1600 AD
 Teotihuacan in central Mexico had a
population of 200,000 in 350 AD.
 Calendars, roads, temples, chariots
 Chinese: 21,000 B.C. to present
 Shang Dynasty: 1700 BC – writing
 Han Dynasty: 200 BC – universities
 Silk, paper, gunpowder, printing
Western Development
 500 - 1300 a.d. - Middle Ages
 Little development
 Castles, windmills, ship building
 Cathedrals
 1100 - 1200 a.d. - Term engineer arises
 Based on “in generare” - to create
 Often built “engines of war”
Western Development
 1300 - 1750 a.d. - Great scientific advances
 Previous - trial & error
 Sometimes ran afoul of the church
 1747 - French build first Engineering school
 1771 - the term “Civil Engineering” is used
 1780 - James Watt builds practical steam
engine - Mechanical Engineering
Western Development
 1800 (?) - Eli Whitney introduces mass
production in factories - beginnings of
Industrial Engineering
 1844 - Samuel Morse invents the
telegraph - Electrical Engineering
 1885 - Karl Benz begins production of
gasoline driven automobiles.
The Pace Increases
 1903 - Wright Brother fly at Kitty Hawk
 1917 - Commercial air-mail service
 1930 – 43 Airlines in the US
 1957 – Sputnik
 1961 – Manned space flight
 1969 – Moon landing!
Why Study History?
 Keeps our perspective on
the “impossible”.
 Avoid repeating mistakes.
 Shows us the importance of
“mundane” developments.
 Helps us see how historical
cultural differences may
impact modern solutions.
“Its all been done”
In the late 1800’s, the head of the U.S. Patent
Office appealed to Congress to close his
office, saying “Everything that can ever be
invented, has been.”
Lesson from the Past
 Ankor Wat built by
Suryavarman II
(1113-c. 1150)
 Most visible remnant of
a highly productive
society
 May have been wiped
out buy Malaria
Who stopped “the Plague”
City life in England in 1842
 Shift from agricultural to industrial production
 Overcrowding rampant
 Child laborers
 Average age of death
 Gentry - 43
 Tradesman - 30
 Laborers 22
 For every death by old age or violence,
8 died from disease
Sanitary Conditions
 People living in basements, streets.
 Water from public wells
or pumped from river
to shared standpipes.
 Sewage, trash thrown
into gutters.
 In London the Thamesbegan to stink.
A New Plague Arrives
 Cholera arrives from India.
 In Paris, 7000 die in 18 days.
 Britain's industrialized
cities lose 22,000.
 Doctors disagree on treatment.
 Under medical care,
25%-59% of patients died.
The Plague Ends
 Insurance Actuaries determine that
the closer you live to the Thames,
the higher your risk of dying.
 Laws forbid pumping
drinking water
from the Thames.
 New sewers.
 The plague ends!