740 REPORT— 1894. 



Professor ' — a name -which, on a suitable binding, might even have secured it a sale 

 at the railway bookstalls. 



I know well — too well — that in the present congested state of the engineering 

 profession there are many of us who do not like to hear the word ' training ' 

 mentioned at all. It seems to mean merely the preparation of more lads to 

 struggle for a share of work that is even now insufficient to go round. There is no 

 doubt much to be said for this point of view. But against it one must remember 

 that all other professions are equally full, and that, after all, lads must do some- 

 thing. The fault is surely that there are too many lads ! If our population is 

 really to go on increasing as rapidly as at present — the benefits of which Sections D, 

 E, and F might have a joint meeting to discuss, if not to discover — it is inevitable 

 that demands should come for more and more complete professional preparation. 

 The man of exceptional parts will come to the fi-ont under any conditions, training 

 or no training, in the future as in the past. But for ordinary men — that is, for 

 99 per cent, of us — it is essential that no advantage should be given to a rival in 

 the tierce competition of life, and for them therefore it is of an importance hardly 

 to be exaggerated to obtain the most complete and perfect training possible. At 

 the same time, and on purely general grounds, it can hardly be denied that to raise 

 the standard of our profession is indirectly to confer a benefit on the whole com- 

 munity. I hope, therefore, that in making certain suggestions about the training 

 of engineers, it will not be thought that I am desirous of increasing their number, 

 which is really an end as far as possible from my own wishes. Whether the 

 number increases or stands still or falls off, it is of importance from every point of 

 view that those who come forward should be as well prepared as possible. And 

 , even the most conservative of us are compelled to recognise that the standard 

 required in engineers' offices now is enormously higher than it was thirty years 

 ago. This may truly be either the cause or the effects of improved training, but in 

 either case it has made the training itself a necessity. 



The particular aspect of mechanical training of which I wish to speak is its 

 critical side. I do not know how a man should be trained to be an inventor. I 

 would not tell anyone if I did ! To be a creator in mechanical matters — which, 

 however, is a quite different thing — is a faculty given only to a very few, and with 

 them it is ' born, not made.' Many of us, however, without being either inventors 

 or creators, have sufficient natural aptitude or inclination towards things mechanical 

 to form a basis for the trainer or educator to work on, with some hope that he 

 may be of service. About the sciences which should be taught to such men, or the 

 methods of teaching them, about the extent and nature of their experience in shops 

 or on works, I do not intend to speak. I shall confine myself to one aspect of the 

 training only, an aspect which is perhaps not always sufficiently clearly kept 

 in view — the aspect which I have just called the critical side of mechanical 

 training. 



An engineer is a man who is continually being called upon to make up his 

 mind. It may be only as to the size of a bolt ; it may be as to the type of a Forth 

 Bridge ; it may be as to the method of lighting a city ; or only as to the details of 

 a fire-grate. But, whatever it is, once it is settled it is decided irrevocably — it is 

 translated into steel and iron and copper, and cannot be revoked by an Act passed 

 in another session.. The time given him in which to decide may be a day, or a 

 month, or a year, but in any and every case (so far as my own experience goes) 

 it is about one-tenth part of the time which he would like to have. It is only in 

 rare cases that the decision is obvious — most often there are more courses open 

 than even the most facile politician ever dreamt of. The matters are too complex 

 to be dealt with mathematically or even physically ; even if they were not, there 

 are few engineers who would have the special capacity to handle "tht^m. Moreover, 

 their solutions are seldom ' unique.' From this point of view, the whole use of 

 college training, of workshop practice, of practical experience, is to provide the 

 engineer later on with the means of critically examining each question as it comes 

 up, of reviewing systematically the pros and cons of each method of dealing with 

 it, of coming finally, rapidly, and positively to some defensible decision, which may 

 then be irrevocably carried out. 



