It is believed that the Romans learned by the method of trial and error, which is just another way of saying try and fail. By means of observing and analyzing unintended failures, they deduced rules of thumb.
For multiple arch bridges, one rule was to have the dimension of the spans be no more than an order of magnitude greater than the dimension of the piers between them. Although there do not appear to be any records explaining the architectural or technical purpose of the stepped rings surrounding the base of the dome of the Roman Pantheon, there should be little doubt that they were introduced to contain the concrete dome and thus prevent cracks from opening up in it.
And, as Vitruvius so explicitly explained, the Greeks learned that a stone lintel spanning more than about three column diameters was prone to crack and fall. In his book, he advised that when longer spans were desired, timber lintels should be employed.
Such stories of success and failure in ancient engineering are instructive not because we still use rules of thumb to design masonry arch bridges or stone temples. The stories are relevant to modern engineering design because they reveal in their simple contexts the way engineers accumulate knowledge and engineering advances.
Experience, both good and bad, guides us in extending the state of the art toward new limits. Those limits are seldom well defined in advance. It is the essence and adventure of engineering for us to be the pathfinders who push against and through the frontiers of knowledge and bring back news of what lay beyond and how to reach it.
As the ancients did, we find ourselves now and then designing things that do not work as intended. But the overwhelming number of engineered things large and small do work, and do so safely and reliably in service to society, advancing civilization. Engineers today may not be designing ancient monuments, but they are working in the grand tradition of those ancient engineers who did.
As seemingly distant in time, technology, and scale from those ancient structures as the integrated circuit and digital computer and other modern electronic devices may seem, they and all engineering marvels are our contemporary masterpieces of engineering design and execution. They have their origins in the same conceptualizing and synthesizing processes that the ancient engineers employed. Like our professional ancestors, today’s engineers are essential to civilization.
Henry, one comment you made really resonated with me. You mention that Vitruvius's book is still eminently readable. I find that all the time. It is interesting to go back to read source material (as opposed to contemporary commentaries) on any subhject and to see how much like those authors we are. Despite all the great innovations we have developed, we still think in similar ways. In some ways that seems suprising. I guess it should not.
A wile back I was in Germany and our hosts were showing us a Roman aqueduct that was still in operation. It is really a testament to their knowledge and skill. We build on that foundation and reap the benefits.
Professor Petroski's point about learning from failure is an important one. A recent book, "Creating Innovators: The Making of Ypung People Who Will Change the World," makes a similar point. In a Wall Street Journal op-ed, the author, Tony Wagner, writes, "In most high school and college classes, failure is penalized. But without trial and error, there is no innovation." Professor Petroski puts that lesson in historical context when he describes how ancient Egyptians, Romans and Greeks built a body of engineering knowledge by learning from failure.
Buildings, roads, bridges are repeatedly repaired, replaced, and demolished. We seem to have the technology to make better materials; engineering sophistication to make things last; but not the foresight to put quality ahead of short-term cost considerations. The TV breaks, it is cheaper to toss it out and buy a new one. Plastic plumbing components are replacing copper products that are now so cheaply made that they have become undependable. This says something about the current state of engineering AND our "civilization".
Good point about failure, Chuck. I remember a few decades ago IBM -- then considered a master of business organization -- did a study and found that the most successful employees were also the empolyees who made the most mistakes. The conclusion of the study was that employees should be encouraged to take more risk.
Good points, Larry. When it comes to TVs, though, I think they last well beyond the period consumers want to own them. Consumers give up well-made, perfectly well-running TVs in order to gain new features.
Rob, I believe some engineering schools are starting to take note of this fact, as well. Most notably, it's being incoporated in the curriculums at Olin College of Engineering in Massachusetts.
Excellent point—engineering and civilization DO go hand-in-hand.Several years ago, my company sent me to Egypt to call on a distributor concerning issues with atmospheric gas burners softening (another word for melting) during extended periods of firing.Propane gas was used as the fuel.If you recall, propane gas has a heating value of approximately 2500 Btu/Ft³ so the orifices must be sized accordingly or you will definitely have problems.While there, I had an opportunity to visit the pyramids.Pictures, in no way, do them justice.They are massive—massive.I would love to know the mechanisms used to hoist those stones upward and into place.I have always thought that for such an undertaking, there would be some form of documentation as to how this was accomplished.In our day, time is "of the essence".It is definitely hard to believe the "ancient" engineers worried that much about time.They seemed to be more in tune with achieving quality.
Henry, civilization and engineering are closely co-related and related in a bilateral way. Technology can bring up the living standards of citizens and this in turn can uplift the civilization. Most of the technologies we are using now a day's are either digitalized or extended versions of the older ones.
"The most successful employees were also the employees who made the most mistakes"
Rob, exactly correct. Most of the innovations are happened by accidently, similar to Einstein discovered force of gravity. If employees are not making any mistakes means, the productivity and innovation are less associated with him. He is just doing whatever he knows , that's all.
Larry S.; Quality means different things. In manufacturing 'quality' is conformance to specifications. A process can be Six Sigma and still produce junk, but it is 'quality junk' if it conforms to specifications.
And there is always the demand to always make things 'less expensive'. The trick is to stop making things 'less expensive' before the point of making them 'cheap'.
And a tangent: Despair.com has a take on building the pyramids = when you have an unlimited supply of expendable labor, there's nothing you can't do. Still, there are ancient structures that rival modern buildings.
In a world that's going green, industrial operations have a problem: Their processes involve materials that are potentially toxic, flammable, corrosive, or reactive. If improperly managed, this can precipitate dangerous health and environmental consequences.
An analysis of what’s needed to implement Design for Disassembly and Design for Recycling results in eight strategies engineers can use to design an intentional end-of-life stage into their products.
Government regulations, coupled with growing consumer sensitivity about data and identity theft, require that data storage organizations demonstrate proper protection and due diligence in protecting sensitive information stored inside datacenter enclosures.
When a crane doesn't have a monitoring system, crane owners schedule service every six months and simply scrap the parts they replace, even if a part has had little use and doesn't need replacing. This can cost thousands.
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