Thursday, October 13, 2011
Destruction=Constructive
The article "Five machines that changed the world" is great. I love mideavil history, weapons, and gadgets. Its so cool to see what the people of that time did and knew with the resources they had. The engineers of this time period contributed to what we know today. Its kind of funny to look at how engineers differ from now and then. Back then, engineers were given the task to build machines that would destroy things more effectively and efficiently. Today, engineers try to build things for safety, prevention, or improving. They sort of switch views over time. The persistence of the engineers back then, led to engineers designing stronger and thicker walls. They had to do this as a defense mechanism. Through this, engineers learned a lot about buildings and infrastructure. If it hadn't been for the engineers trying to break down the walls of a city, we may be backed up a few years in our civil engineering.
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I agree with you that most people wouldn’t think of engineers as violent people with violent goals in their designs. However, the goals of engineers today have definitely changed, in our eyes, for the better. I also didn’t think about your last idea though it is one of the most logical ideas and I completely agree with it. Had there been no attacks on others, then walls would not have been built and continuously redesigned to be stronger for protection and they would not have been what they are today in the walls we use to build our homes and the places we go to most! engr 103
ReplyDeleteI agree to the fact that how engineers at that time made such innovative equipment with the given resources. Also this is really to note that how the engineers of that time made things for destruction, in contrast to the ones today which are made to increase safety.
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ReplyDeleteI found your contrast between engineers of those days and engineers of today very interesting. Engineering evolves over time based on the resources available and the pressing need of the time to use those resources. In medieval times, it was to help conquer to help defend land. Today its to improve the quality of life.
ReplyDeleteIt shows the ingenuity of the part of medieval engineers when they constantly kept trying to improve the mangonels and trebuchets to improve the accuracy and range of the machine in order to knock down the walls of the castles. The one constant over time in engineering is that it did, does and always will require 'innovation'.
ENGR 103
I think that the article was interesting too. Your post is very interesting, but what I really find remarkable is that you notice how times change the ways engineering is done. In the middle age civil engineering was performed with war being its main concern, while nowadays safety and improvement are primary aspects to be taken when building. The way we see infrastructure and defense mechanisms today would have never been the same without war and its consequences. NICE POST! (engr 103)
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