560 CIVIL ENGINEERING 



The botanist with his microscope studies the form and construc- 

 tion of woods, while the engineer by experimentation devises means 

 to preserve his timber. 



The biologist points to bare facts that he has discovered, but 

 the engineer grasps them and utilizes them for the purification of 

 water-supplies. 



In short, the aim of pure science is discovery, but the purpose of 

 engineering is usefulness. 



The delvers in the mysterious laboratories, the mathematical 

 gymnasts, the scholars poring over musty tomes of knowledge, 

 are not understood by the work-a-day world, nor do they under- 

 stand it. But between stands the engineer with keen and sym- 

 pathetic appreciation of the value of the work of the one and a ready 

 understanding of the needs and requirements of the other; and by 

 his power of adaptability he grasps the problems presented, takes 

 from the investigators their abstract results, and transforms them 

 into practical usefulness for the world. 



The work of the engineer usually does not permit him to make 

 very extensive researches or important scientific discoveries; nor 

 is it often essential to-day for him to do so, as there are numerous 

 investigators in all lines whose object is to deduce abstract scien- 

 tific facts; nevertheless there comes a time occasionally in the 

 career of every successful engineer when it is necessary for him to 

 make investigations more or less abstract, although ultimately 

 utilitarian; consequently it behooves engineers to keep in touch 

 with the methods of scientific investigation, in order that they may 

 either perform desired experiments themselves, or instruct trained 

 investigators how to perform them. 



The engineer must be more or less a genius who invents and de- 

 vises ways and means of applying all available resources to the 

 uses of mankind. His motto is "utility," and his every thought 

 and act must be to employ to the best advantage the materials 

 and conditions at hand. To be able to accomplish this object he 

 must be thoroughly familiar with all useful materials and their 

 physical properties as determined by the investigations of the pure 

 scientists. 



Many well-known principles of science have lain unused for ages 

 awaiting the practical application for which they were just suited. 

 The power of steam was known long before the practical mind of 

 Watt utilized it in the steam engine. 



The engineer is probably an evolution of the artisan rather than 

 of the early scientist. His work is becoming more scientific because 

 of his relations and associations with the scientific world. These 

 relations of the engineer to the sciences are of comparatively re- 

 cent origin, and this fact accounts for the rapid development in 



