G.— KNGINEKRING. 139 



The economic and beneficent importance of the work of the engineer 

 is recognised by all, in the provision of safe, reliable, and efficient means 

 of transport and in the wonderful harbours and docks which make possible 

 the interchange of commodities between the nations and incidentally 

 the sharing of your gracious hospitality by so many of us from Great 

 Britain ; in the utilisation of sources of energy for doing the work of the 

 world ; in the equipment of factories and workshops with machines that 

 produce abundantly so that the standard of life is raised ; in supplying to 

 communities pure water, and in the disposal of sewage without danger to 

 health or to the contamination of rivers and streams ; in making it possible 

 to plough the great spaces and gather the abundant harvests with little 

 labour ; in the provision of implements to combat the enemies of the fruit 

 harvest, and in the construction of dams and reservoirs to store the 

 abundant rains for the time of drought so that even the barren places 

 shall be fruitful and rejoice. For these achievements of engineering it 

 is not difficult to obtain recognition, but it is often overlooked that 

 engineering is affecting the intellectual outlook of peoples and by its 

 very successes may introduce social and political problems of great 

 significance. The development of the steam engine and the invention 

 of certain types of machines during the eighteenth century changed the 

 industrial life of England and to-day there are social and political 

 problems, particularly those incident to distribution and concentration 

 of population, that are left as a legacy of the rapid changes in manu- 

 facturing conditions and a failure to appreciate at the time the new 

 influences that were moulding the life of the nation. During the last 

 century the work of the engineer has surely had a very marked influence 

 upon the relationships between the nations. Great liners now traverse 

 the broad highways of the seas and iron roads cross continents so that 

 distant peoples are brought near together and the relationships between 

 the nations are irrevocably changing for good or ill. The control of power 

 and mechanical skill have made it possible for the spoken and printed 

 word to disseminate widely thoughts and opinions, so that the worthy 

 and the unworthy have opportunities of influence hitherto impossible. 

 If, therefore, it cannot be claimed that engineering has a direct influence 

 on the intellectual life of peoples and their political relationships it has 

 an indirect influence, the full significance of which it is at present difficult 

 to evaluate. A clearer recognition, however, of the factors and influences 

 that modern engineering is bringing into the life of the world, and par- 

 ticularly their potentialities for good or ill, as well as their effect upon 

 the incidence of populations and the social and political problems of the 

 future, should not be overlooked, and the hope can be expressed that 

 directly and indirectly the contributions of engineering may be used for 

 beneficent and not destructive ends. Communities, not engineers, are 

 responsible for the use or abuse of the gifts of engineering. 



It is not, however, desired in this address to emphasise the intellectual 

 or political influences of engineering but rather to suggest : (1) the vital 

 importance of scientific research to engineering, (2) that as in the remark- 

 able engineering developments of the last century the scientific method has 

 been the key to progress even so it must be in the future, and (3) that there 

 are many engineering problems of great interest and importance, not only 



