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23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Superb book about technology, society and much else, March 1, 2000
Florman is a civil engineer. He writes about engineering, society, man's relationship to technology and nature, overpopulating, pollution, and other critical technology-related issues. He writes the best essays about these topics I have ever read. In general, he supports the status quo and he is an optimist, but he is not blind to the shortcomings of technology and dangers like overpopulation and over development. Much of this book is devoted to a gentle rebuttal of the 1960s anti-technology philosophies embraced by Mumford, Reich and Schumacher. Florman presents all points of view. He leans over backward to present opposing points of view accurately, by quoting authors at length. Florman writes about product safety, industrial standards, risky research and development in unproven technology, job satisfaction, social alienation, recruiting women into engineering, and many other topics. He illuminates the discussion with examples drawn from history, ancient and modern literature, grand opera, Tom Lehrer songs, and rock music. He writes with such wit and clarity you almost feel it is a shame he became a civil engineer instead of an author, or a historian or journalist. Nearly every page has some quotable, piquant paragraphs like these: "Our contemporary problem is distressingly bvious. We have too many people wanting too many things. This is not caused by technology; it is a consequence of the type of creature that man is. . . ." "It is common knowledge that millions of underprivileged families want adequate food and housing. What is less commonly remarked is that after they have adequate food and housing they will want to be served at a fine restaurant and to have a weekend cottage by the sea. People want tickets to the Philharmonic and vacation trips abroad . . . The illiterate want to learn how to read. Then they want education, and then more education, and then they want their sons and daughters to become doctors and lawyers. . ." (p. 76) This is one of the few books I have seen recommended by the Wall Street Journal, the New Yorker, Time magazine, and the American Society for Engineering Education. I recommend Florman's other books, especially "Blaming Technology," which is out of print, unfortunately.
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15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Engineering Pride and Purpose, January 8, 2005
This is a book for new engineers. For a student who is choosing to learn mechanical, civil, aerospace, electrical, software, or another engineering discipline. For the high school student contemplating academic options. For the university student working through courses. For the apprentice engineer working on real problems for the real world for the first time.
For all of these it can be invaluable to know that the engineer is not only defined by the science and math geeks finding something they are good at. That is important. In addition the engineer has a valuable role in society. And the creative and analytical urges that may separate the student from the crowd are fundamental urges of the human. We create. We build. And we take joy from this. It is in the genome - from the baby working over the blocks to The Skunk Works building a U2 or SR-71.
Samuel Florman has written a philosophy text on why engineers do what they do, and feel what they feel. The mature engineers will have fought through any resistence and anti-technology populist imagery. We learn to laugh and reflect on Chaplin caught in the gears, and keep an eye on overwhelming those who the technology should serve. Indeed, the practicing engineers will also have learned to deal with the guilt tossed our way by the league of environmentalists who treat modern technology as a planetary evil.
Those engineers will enjoy this book but probably not be altered by it. As we know from the numbers, fewer and fewer students are entering the engineering professions each year. This is where the book is important. One of the most rewarding and fulfilling professional directions is often considered a social problem through negative "press", reinforced by peer treatment in school. Don't we all learn early that engineers will create something that will destroy us all? And the engineers are unnatural, nerdy types who do not fit normal society.
Witness the Q equivalent in Alias. Quick, name a positive example of an engineer in prime-time television. Has there been one since MacGyver?
Give students this book and allow them to form a more positive impression. Let them read quotes from works that praise engineers and their contributions. Let them learn that the engineer has had a good image through earlier history, reflected in works of art. This book can help the young engineer build some pride and sense of greater purpose, and not feel guilty about enjoying the creative process.
Perhaps this book would not have been written if there had not been a strong anti-technology sweep in American society. (And shared in many others worldwide). In that sense it is an apology for the engineering professions. Yes, sometimes our creations break. And those creations are sometimes critical to society. That does not negate the professions good. And engineers are not ones to dodge responsibility. We build it as best we can for the common good. It breaks, it is our fault, and we will improve and improve again.
Where would we be without the creations in the first place? None of us want the power grid to fail and the lights to go out. But how many want the lights to never go on?
I received The Existential Pleasures of Engineering while in college (first edition, mumble years ago). It boosted my confidence that I was preparing to do important things for society and that I would enjoy the work. That is a good thing for a book to deliver.
I suggest clicking to read the back cover.
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15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A thorough, rational, cohesive philosophy of Engineering, June 27, 2003
Samuel Florman gives himself a significant task: to explain who engineers are, what motivates them, how they derive pleasure in their work, and, most importantly, how their work is connected to the overall progress of civilization and the human race. He succeeds brilliantly, in a work that has deservedly become a classic. Florman covers a great deal of ground in his book, with a focus on the last 150 years of the engineering profession. He quotes extensively from other works of literature and culture (from Homer to Paul McCartney), and has obviously read widely and thought deeply about his subject matter. He spends a good portion of his book refuting the views of people he calls antitechnologists, whose views were popular among the Sixties counterculture crowd. But ultimately, what Florman accomplishes is to provide a constructive, pragmatic philosophy of the Engineering profession, that allows society to move forward to solve the never-ending set of problems that we face. As a good work of philosophy (or science) should, Florman's book (originally published more than 30 years ago) provides an intellectual framework for interpreting events of today. Although the views of the "strong" antitechnologists have failed to incite a large-scale revolution of Americans returning to the agrarian villages of yesteryear or the communes of the Sixties, the battle between technophiles and technophobes continues unabated. Florman's book provides insights into the debates over issues such as energy policy, environmentalism, genetically modified foods and drugs, land use policy, globalization, as well as the future direction of the U.S. economy, especially after the technology/Internet boom and bust of the late `90s and early `00s. Ultimately, Florman would argue that these are not issues of technology; engineers can be directed to build fail-safe nuclear power plants or super-efficient solar energy collectors or both or none. These are decisions to be made by an informed citizenry, their political representatives, and regulated profit-seeking corporations - ultimately, a society that understands technology and risk, and that does not exhibit Luddite antitechnology biases. Meanwhile, I am sure he would be dismayed to see U.S. college engineering enrollments declining, especially among native-born Americans - there are plenty of people in the rest of the world who still value the Engineering profession. I highly recommend this book to anyone thinking about entering or already in the Engineering profession, to anyone interested in learning more about the profession, and to teachers and those in positions of influence over young people's choice of careers. Ideally it would also be read by politicians and antitechnologists; it would be very interesting to hear how someone would directly refute Florman's arguments.
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