Religious Studies Faculty Publications
Document Type
Book Chapter
Publication Date
2012
Publication Source
Engineering Education and Practice: Embracing a Catholic Vision
Abstract
Knowledge of our roots can sometimes help us figure out how we ought to proceed. Many claim that engineering began in ancient antiquity with the Egyptian pyramids, Archimedes' inventions, or the Roman aqueducts. Others give contemporary engineering a more recent history, tracing its origins to the Industrial Revolution or the Enlightenment. Yet what is often overlooked is the fact that contemporary engineering owes part of its identity to medieval monasticism.
The advantage of remembering this history is the bearing it has on the questions "What is engineering for?" and "How ought engineering be practiced?"
Michael Davis makes the claim that, in Western thought, engineering has always played second fiddle to science because we in the West have been bewitched by the myth that engineering is nothing but applied science. But engineering is not merely applied science. Engineering has its own distinctive identity.
Inclusive pages
41-55
ISBN/ISSN
978-0-268-03110-7
Document Version
Published Version
Copyright
Copyright © 2012, University of Notre Dame Press
Publisher
University of Notre Dame Press
Place of Publication
Notre Dame, IN
eCommons Citation
Kallenberg, Brad, "The Theological Origins of Engineering" (2012). Religious Studies Faculty Publications. 70.
https://ecommons.udayton.edu/rel_fac_pub/70
Included in
Engineering Education Commons, Ethics and Political Philosophy Commons, Ethics in Religion Commons, Other Engineering Commons
Comments
Chapter 2 is included in the repository for download with the permission of the publisher. The full citation:
Engineering Education and Practice: Embracing a Catholic Vision. James L. Heft, S.M., and Kevin Hallinan, eds. Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press (2012).
Permission documentation is on file.