Engineering

Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)

the branch of science dealing with the design, construction and operation of various machines, structures, and engines used in the arts, trades, and everyday life. Engineering is divided into many branches, the most important being civil, mechanical, electrical, mining, military, marine, and sanitary engineering. Civil Engineering is the most extensive and embraces the arts of architecture, surveying, bridge, railroad, harbor, and canal construction, and the building trades. Mechanical Engineering comprises the design, construction, and operation of machinery, the design of manufacturing plants, and all branches of industrial production. Electrical Engineering is a branch of mechanical engineering and includes the application of electricity to mechanical and industrial pursuits, as derived from some other source of energy. Mining Engineering is a combination of the three preceding branches as apng plied to the discovery operation mines, the building of mineral working by St. George's Channel plants, and treatment of ores. Military Engineering deals entirely with the arts of war, the design, construction and maintenance of fortifications, machines of defense and attack, ordnance, and the surveying of country in preparation for military operations. Marine Engineering is partly military Vol. IV-Cyc-B and partly civil, embracing naval architecture, building and operating of ships and naval accessories. In the military sense, it comprises the construction of war vessels and the construction and placing of torpedoes, submarine mines, etc. Sanitary Engineering consists of the construction of sewers and drains, providing for the cleaning of city streets and the disposal of garbage and sewage, reclaiming of swamps, and overcoming of all sources tending to interfere with public health. The education and training of the engineer in modern times have called for the establishment of technical schools and courses in engineering in the large colleges and universities. These schools provide the student with the theories of mathematics, mechanics, and engineering, and by means of extensive laboratory and outside work provide him with practice in the design, construction, and use of modern engineering appliances. Among the most noted technical schools are the University of Glasgow, Polytechnique, in Paris; Stevens Instithe Massachusetts Institute of Technoltute of Technology, in Hoboken, N. J.; ogy, in Boston; and Cornell and Columbia Universities.