Henry Petroski, Duke University Engineering & History Professor
The Essential Engineer
Tech Nation
41 minutes, 18.8mb, recorded 2010-03-16
http://itc.conversationsnetwork.org/shows/detail4443.html#Dr. Moira Gunn talks with Duke University professor, Henry Petroski, about his new book, The Essential Engineer: Why Science Alone Will Not Solve Our Global Problems, where he explores science and engineering and how they must work together to address our world�s most pressing issues. From climate change to cars, natural disasters to renewable energy sources, the scientist may identify problems but it falls to the engineer to solve them.
* * *
Because of its name � NASA Academy of the Physical Sciences � some might think that NAPS is only about the "physical sciences." In actuality, my proposed NAPS curriculum would provide excellent preparation for every possible career in science, engineering, technology, and/or medicine � including careers in life science.
Understanding the distinctions separating science, engineering, and technology can be difficult. Listening to the above linked interview with Henry Petroski might be helpful for those who are not sure about how scientists differ from engineers in their thinking and in their doing.
Even though the NAPS curriculum would be exactly the same at every site across the nation, I wonder whether there would be a perceptible difference in outcome between public universities that are predominantly focused on teaching Science and public universities that are predominantly focused on teaching Engineering. Regarding the eventual careers of the NAPS graduates, would the "Science" universities more tend to produce scientists while the "Engineering" universities would more tend to produce engineers? Because some industrious NAPS students would certainly find their way onto university research teams during their high school years, the Science vs Engineering bias of the host university would likely have some influence.
Steven A. Sylwester
