Engineers Within a Local And Global Society

by Baillie, Caroline

• ISBN13: 9781598291360
• ISBN10: 159829136X
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2007-10-01
• Publisher: Morgan & Claypool

Summary

In this book, author Caroline Baillie draws from history, and lessons learned from engineers of the past, by looking at the impact they had on the worlds in which they lived, intended or otherwise. She considers the political and economic systems in which engineers operate and how engineering interacts with and contributes to major global forces. She also addresses equity issues, both in working conditions as well as in considering who it is they engineer for. She looks at the networks of engineering knowledge and the relationship to power, considering more democratic ways of empowering the public to address real needs. She also discusses ways in which engineering is organized, who makes the decisions, and how these decisions affect what they engineer. Finally she considers the latest works on public participation in technology, appropriate technology for developing countries, as well as focusing on environmental and ethical responsibilities of engineers.

Table of Contents

Choices as an engineer	p. 1
How responsible is engineering?	p. 8
Engineering and society in the past	p. 12
The contemporary industrial revolution	p. 20
Global economic issues	p. 30
Public understanding of science and technology	p. 38
Alternative systems	p. 41
Case study : developing waste plastic/agave fibre ceiling panels in Lesotho, Africa	p. 45
Summing up	p. 63
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