HISTORY OF ENGINEERING

A Brief History of Engineering

The history of engineering goes back to very remote times, from the invention of tools such as the lever or the wheel, which facilitated the performance of other works by means of basic principles of mechanics. The word engineer has its roots in Latin. Ingenium translates literally as the innate qualities of a person, but militarily it was used to call war machines that were built by humans.

Those who could operate such creations were known as ingeniairus and ingeniator. From there the word must have moved to the French engigneur and then to the English engineer. The first manifestations of engineering occurred in the Ancient Age with the great constructions like the pyramids, both Egyptian and pre-Columbian. Likewise, there are the great works of the Greeks and the Romans, who took engineering to other aspects of life such as the military.

In the Medieval Period, advances in civil engineering gave way to Gothic architecture in Europe, while in Asia important advances were made in the areas of metallurgy and hydrography. During the Modern Age, the steam engine inaugurated the Industrial Revolution. That’s when engineering became a formal science. It should be taken into account that today’s engineering is a set of knowledge and techniques applied to problem solving.

From then on, areas of specialization such as military, mechanical, and civil engineering began to be separated and new names were added to that list. Electrical engineering emerged with Volta in the 19th century. Later on, electronics came out of it. Also in the 19th century, chemical engineering gave way to mechanical engineering, trying to meet the needs of the latter.

Then came aeronautics, which was necessary during the First and Second World Wars. One of the most recent became popular in the 1980s and is computer engineering. The first recorded engineer was named Imhotep, and he was a builder of the step pyramid that is located in Saqqara, Egypt. It was built for Pharaoh Zoser of the Third Dynasty.

Who Was First Engineer in World ?

It is believed that Imhotep was the first to use columns for architecture. His works date from approximately 2550 BC. There is a theory that the great projects of antiquity may have taken over the work of this Egyptian using empirical methods, while making use of other sciences such as geometry, physics and arithmetic.

There are many examples of architecture from antiquity that can be named. Among the most outstanding works are: the Lighthouse of Alexandria, the Temple of Solomon, the Roman Coliseum and, of course, the aqueducts. Also the Greek Acropolis and Parthenon, the Mesopotamian ziggurats and the structures of the Native Americans such as the Mayas, Incas or Aztecs.

In addition, in Asia is located one of the greatest works of humanity as it is the Great Wall of China. As for the architecture of the Romans, their principles were established in the Book of Architecture written by Marcus Vitruvius Pollio, where he relates his experience and what he knew about the theory of Greek architectural works, which were the basis of this discipline for the Romans.

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