| The Existential Pleasures of Engineering (Thomas Dunne Book)
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Humans have always sought to change their environment—building houses, monuments, temples, and roads. In the process, they have remade the fabric of the world into newly functional objects that are also works of art to be admired. In this second edition of his popular Existential Pleasures of Engineering, Samuel Florman explores how engineers think and feel about their profession.A deeply insightful and refreshingly unique text, this book corrects the myth that engineering is cold and passionless. Indeed, Florman celebrates engineering not only crucial and fundamental but also vital and alive; he views it as a response to some of our deepest impulses, an endeavor rich in spiritual and sensual rewards. Opposing the "anti-technology" stance, Florman gives readers a practical, creative, and even amusing philosophy of engineering that boasts of pride in his craft.
...clear, erudite, and occasionally eloquent, a useful read for engineers given to self-scrutiny and a stimulating one for the layman interested in the ancient schism between machines and men's souls. -- Time Magazine
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By Christian D. Nunciato (Seattle, WA USA)
As an engineer myself -- one with a soft spot for the liberal arts -- I really wanted to like this book. I'd purchased a copy for my father, a mechanical engineer, a few years back, and was curious as to why he still hadn't read it, since it looked like the kind of thing we both might enjoy. Now I know.
It's basically the sort of book that can be summed up in a single paragraph -- a paragraph, in this case, that isn't revealed until around page 150 or so -- and is otherwise crammed with wordy paraphrasings and reiterations of that same paragraph, with dozens of references thrown in for good scholarship. By the time I finally reached that paragraph, I'd pretty much checked out, having plodded for hours through Florman's rants against what he calls "the antitechnologists" (haters of technology, essentially; those broadly opposed to technological progress), apparently having forgotten that his primary audience -- i.e., engineers -- would need little convincing on this particular point.
So in short, I went in looking for an explanation of why engineering is so much fun; I came out (left early, even) having found little more than a long-winded rant against the tree-huggers. Could've been so much more.
By J. Dinyari (ME)
This book shows the inherent connection of the science of engineering and the things engineers build with the humanity of their application. This is an incredible book and should be mandatory high school reading. If I had read this book I would have been more likely to go into engineering - and would have been confident that double majoring engineering with a liberal art which would have best served my interests.
The lessons go beyond the profession of engineering. The book could be used in an ethics course for Banking, Medicine, Political Science and any other profession where power corrupts.
Chapter 3 is full of insights on why we always needed strict financial oversight of big business (remember Glass-Steagall Act?). See p. 19-20 for starters: "Although they were men of conscience, they did not assume that the world could be ruled by conscience alone. Civilized men had long recognized that laws and regulations, mutually agreed upon, are the only sound protection for society against the self-interest of each of us. The founding fathers of the Constitution considered this as a given. James Madison asserted that men needed governing because they were not angels. Even Thomas Jefferson, that great believer in popular democracy, said, 'In questions of power, then, let no more be heard of confidence in man, but bind him down by the claims of the constitution.'"
By wiredweird (Earth, or somewhere nearby)
This is a book for all engineers (and many scientists) who havbe ever had a crisis of faith in their work. It's a reminder, if one is needed, that engineering is human, humane work, and profoundly fulfilling in itself.
Florman gets off to a slow start, though. The first third of the book is apologetic, acknowledging the many social and environmental ills in which engineers have taken part. "Forgive us," he seems to say, "for not being better than the masters who command our work and the clients who demand it." The next third of the book takes on a shrill tone, an answer to the neo-Luddites of the 1960s and 1970s. Florman spends time answering their anti-technological absurdities and self-important elitism. Only in the last third of the book does Florman make the central point of this book.
Engineers, as a stereotype, seem boring, but perhaps that's becuase we lack so many of the stereotypical failings of other professions - avarice, personal arrogance, or violence. Engineering is no less creative than any of the "creative" arts, and is a profound expression of all that sets us apart from animals. It's part of the tradition of Homer and the Old Testament, where the ability to create was god-given, and the tradition of Chartres, where engineering skill was an offering to God. Florman notes that putting one's skills to the service of human needs is a living expression of the communal sense. I felt that myself when I acquired a breast cancer microarray dataset in the course of my work. It was the realization that those blank case numbers were real women, some now dead, and that I had a duty towards them (or their memories), their futures, and the futures of others. But most of all, Florman reminds us that engineering is fun. It answers personal, social, and even spiritual needs in ways that outsiders may never understand. I assure you, the greatest awareness of the world and its glories comes from direct involvement with it, and an engineer's life is about involvement with the physical world.
Issues have changed since Florman wrote this in 1976; it sometimes answers questions that aren't commonly asked any more. Still, it's the finest statement I know of what there is about engineering that makes a practitioner proud, even happy, to be a part of it.
//wiredweird
By M. Thomsen (San Pedro, CA USA)
This is a book for new engineers. For a student who is choosing to learn mechanical, civil, aerospace, electrical, software, or another engineering discipline. For the high school student contemplating academic options. For the university student working through courses. For the apprentice engineer working on real problems for the real world for the first time.
For all of these it can be invaluable to know that the engineer is not only defined by the science and math geeks finding something they are good at. That is important. In addition the engineer has a valuable role in society. And the creative and analytical urges that may separate the student from the crowd are fundamental urges of the human. We create. We build. And we take joy from this. It is in the genome - from the baby working over the blocks to The Skunk Works building a U2 or SR-71.
Samuel Florman has written a philosophy text on why engineers do what they do, and feel what they feel. The mature engineers will have fought through any resistence and anti-technology populist imagery. We learn to laugh and reflect on Chaplin caught in the gears, and keep an eye on overwhelming those who the technology should serve. Indeed, the practicing engineers will also have learned to deal with the guilt tossed our way by the league of environmentalists who treat modern technology as a planetary evil.
Those engineers will enjoy this book but probably not be altered by it. As we know from the numbers, fewer and fewer students are entering the engineering professions each year. This is where the book is important. One of the most rewarding and fulfilling professional directions is often considered a social problem through negative "press", reinforced by peer treatment in school. Don't we all learn early that engineers will create something that will destroy us all? And the engineers are unnatural, nerdy types who do not fit normal society.
Witness the Q equivalent in Alias. Quick, name a positive example of an engineer in prime-time television. Has there been one since MacGyver?
Give students this book and allow them to form a more positive impression. Let them read quotes from works that praise engineers and their contributions. Let them learn that the engineer has had a good image through earlier history, reflected in works of art. This book can help the young engineer build some pride and sense of greater purpose, and not feel guilty about enjoying the creative process.
Perhaps this book would not have been written if there had not been a strong anti-technology sweep in American society. (And shared in many others worldwide). In that sense it is an apology for the engineering professions. Yes, sometimes our creations break. And those creations are sometimes critical to society. That does not negate the professions good. And engineers are not ones to dodge responsibility. We build it as best we can for the common good. It breaks, it is our fault, and we will improve and improve again.
Where would we be without the creations in the first place? None of us want the power grid to fail and the lights to go out. But how many want the lights to never go on?
I received The Existential Pleasures of Engineering while in college (first edition, mumble years ago). It boosted my confidence that I was preparing to do important things for society and that I would enjoy the work. That is a good thing for a book to deliver.
I suggest clicking to read the back cover.
By M. Tillman (Maryland)
In reading this book, I found quite a bit of agreement between myself and Florman. As a practicing engineer, I have fairly well defined ideas of my role in society, how society values my contributions vice those of others, and the needs for technology in our growing world. When I finished the book, I had a feeling that Florman was preaching to the choir. As an engineer, I was bound to think that my profession was important, and he really didn't have to convice me that our work has helped build society to what it is today. The problem is that I don't think a lot of non-engineering types are inclined to pick up this book and read through it, in much the same way that non-Muslims are not very likely to grab a copy of the Koran and read it.
This problem, I think, is symptomatic of what Florman is really writing about. The Catch 22 of the profession is that the vast majority of people aren't interested in understanding the contributions that engineers make to the world, because if they were interested, chances are they would become engineers. The same holds true for history of science/technology classes at universities, where most of the folks that are in there are trying to learn about the history of their discipline.
If you are not an engineer, reading this book will certainly broaden your understanding of the people who bring you everything in life. If you are an engineer, this book will likely add to your convictions as to why you became one in the first place.
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