Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
Technology today is often presented as our best hope of solving the world's social and sustainability problems. And that's nothing new: engineers have always sought to meet the big challenges of their times--even as those challenges have shaped their technology. This book offers a historical look at those interactions between engineering and social challenges, showing how engineers developed solutions to past problems, and looking at the ways that those solutions often bring with them unintended consequences that themselves require solving.
Synopsis
The world is in turmoil: we are witnessing steep social and environmental challenges. Technology is identified as both cause of and solution to these challenges. How can we use technology to solve problems - without creating new ones? Engineering the Future, Understanding the Past discusses the role of engineering in our age of grand challenges - by drawing lessons from the past. Since the birth of modern engineering roughly two centuries ago, technology has helped to reshape our modern world. At the same time, social challenges have shaped engineering science and practice. This book examines why and how engineers have engaged in solving social challenges -challenges for society, for business, and for users. It also asks why some technological solutions have unexpectedly created new problems. And it studies how engineers have coped with technology's puzzling ability to both help and harm.