From the acclaimed author of "The Pencil" and "To Engineer Is
Human," "The Essential Engineer" is an eye-opening exploration of
the ways in which science and engineering must work together to
address our world's most pressing issues, from dealing with climate
change and the prevention of natural disasters to the development
of efficient automobiles and the search for renewable energy
sources. While the scientist may identify problems, it falls to the
engineer to solve them. It is the inherent practicality of
engineering, which takes into account structural, economic,
environmental, and other factors that science often does not
consider, that makes engineering vital to answering our most urgent
concerns.
Henry Petroski takes us inside the research, development, and
debates surrounding the most critical challenges of our time,
exploring the feasibility of biofuels, the progress of
battery-operated cars, and the question of nuclear power. He gives
us an in-depth investigation of the various options for renewable
energy--among them solar, wind, tidal, and ethanol--explaining the
benefits and risks of each. Will windmills soon populate our
landscape the way they did in previous centuries? Will synthetic
trees, said to be more efficient at absorbing harmful carbon
dioxide than real trees, soon dot our prairies? Will we construct a
"sunshade" in outer space to protect ourselves from dangerous rays?
In many cases, the technology already exists. What's needed is not
so much invention as engineering.
Just as the great achievements of centuries past--the steamship,
the airplane, the moon landing--once seemed beyond reach, the
solutions to the twenty-first century's problems await only a
similar coordination of science and engineering. Eloquently
reasoned and written, "The Essential Engineer" identifies and
illuminates these problems--and, above all, sets out a course for
putting ideas into action.
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