
Engineering: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions)

We attempt to detect these hazards by looking for changes in important measurements of performance.
David Blockley • Engineering: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions)
Even if the chance of the initial damage is very low, the consequences can be very severe. Such systems lack resilience or robustness. We have to learn to live with the knowledge that we cannot predict the total behaviour of a complex system from the performance of its interdependent parts – we have to expect the unexpected unintended consequences.
David Blockley • Engineering: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions)
engineering is about using tools to do work to fulfil a purpose.
David Blockley • Engineering: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions)
They have discovered that human factors in failure are not just a matter of individuals making slips, lapses, or mistakes, but are also the result of organizational and cultural situations which are not easy to identify in advance or at the time. Indeed, they may only become apparent in hindsight.
David Blockley • Engineering: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions)
Arthur Koestler coined a very useful word for thinking about layers. He suggested that the word ‘holon’ should refer to something, indeed anything, which is both a whole and a part.
David Blockley • Engineering: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions)
The job of the engineer is to make the risks acceptably small. In doing so, engineers do not look for truth – that is the purpose of science – rather, they look for reliable, dependable information on which to build and test their models of understanding.
David Blockley • Engineering: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions)
Science is an activity of ‘knowing’, whereas engineering and technology are activities of ‘doing’ – but both rely on mathematics as a language and a tool.
David Blockley • Engineering: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions)
There is still a need for highly specialist expertise that has to keep up with new technology. But perhaps even more importantly, that specialism must be tempered with a much wider understanding of the big picture than has typically been the case in the past.
David Blockley • Engineering: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions)
The characteristics of each layer emerge from the interacting behaviour of the components working in the layer below.