ENGINE 



2033 



ENGINEERING 



overcoming such frictiop is not lost; it simply 

 appears in another form. This makes it ob- 

 vious that for the pendulum to vibrate indefi- 

 nitely would require a steady manufacture of 

 energy; and since energy cannot be created, 

 the old philosophers' dream of perpetual mo- 

 tion is impossible to realize. See PERPETUAL 

 MOTION; PENDULUM. L.M.B. 



ENGINE, en'jin, a name given to any skil- 

 fully constructed mechanism which is capable 

 of converting energy into mechanical work. 

 The name is now mostly applied to the steam 

 engine, in which the force contained in the 

 heat of the steam is transformed into me- 

 chanical energy in the form of motion which 

 is then utilized for doing mechanical work. 

 The steam engines, as well as the gas, oil and 



hot air engines, are known as heat engines, 

 for all of them convert the power of heat into 

 mechanical work. There are other engines 

 from which mechanical work is obtained by 

 utilizing the power of water, and these are 

 known as hydraulic engines. 



It is well to note the difference between an 

 engine and a machine, however complicated 

 or skilfully constructed the latter may be. 

 An engine produces the motion, while a ma- 

 chine does its work by means of the motion 

 or power which it receives from an engine. 



Related Subjects. The reader is referred to 

 the following articles in these volumes : 



Energy 

 Gas Engines 

 Locomotive 



Machine 

 Physics 

 Steam Engine 



Pyramida. Gateway at Kama K 



INGINEERING, a term applied generally 

 to the art or science of construction. A per- 

 son who practices the art is called an engineer, 

 though in former times that name was applied 

 only to those who were engaged in the pro- 

 duction of military weapons or defenses. In 

 modern times engineering has become a highly 

 specialized science, which may be roughly di- 

 vided into civil and military branches. 



The civil engineer accomplishes veritable 

 miracles which the average man accepts as a 

 matter of course, merely thankful that some- 

 one has devised things for his comfort and con- 

 venience. The engineer tunnels half a mile 

 through a mountain and comes out on the 

 other side within six inches of his objective 

 point; he goes a hundred miles into a hilly 

 region, builds great retaining dams and con- 

 ducts pure, fresh water under ground, over 

 valleys and beneath rivers and gives people 

 in a great city 500,000,000 gallons of water a 

 day; he builds a bridge 400 feet above a rag- 

 ing stream, without a single pier, and over it 

 the traffic of a nation moves; he views a great 

 arid region, discovers miles and miles away 

 a plentiful water supply maybe amid the 

 eternal snows of the mountain tops and brings 

 it down to make that desert "blossom as the 

 128 



rose." Wherever civilization penetrates, the 

 civil engineer is almost always an advance- 

 messenger to pave the way for home-making 

 and the building of cities. 



Military engineers adapt many of the arts 

 of peace to the stern uses of war; they con- 

 struct fortifications, trenches, bridges, pon- 

 toons, telegraph and telephone systems and 

 other devices demanded by military neces- 

 sity. 



Modern engineers usually devote themselves 

 to one branch of engineering; the field is so 

 broad that no man could hope to excel in 

 every branch. Electrical engineering demands 

 special study of subjects of which the mining, 

 irrigation, railroad construction or canal engi- 

 neer need have no knowledge; each branch 

 requires special preparation and special talent. 

 An engineer who is thoroughly advised in all 

 matters relating to mining might not make a 

 success as engineer for a large irrigation proj- 

 ect. Each branch of the art is specialized. 

 This has been called an age of specialization, 

 and nowhere is the truth of that more plainly 

 seen than in engineering. 



Among the most remarkable engineering 

 feats of modern times are the construction of 

 the Panama Canal, of the Assuan Dam on the 



