November 2, 1900.] 



SCIENCE. 



673 



future development of engineering educa- 

 tion in America. In this connection there 

 are several matters which invite the care- 

 ful attention of individual members of this 

 Society, and possibly are worthy of ofi&cial 

 action by the Society itself. 



1. Is any general movement for increas- 

 ing the requirements for admission desir- 

 able? The standard has been rising quite 

 rapidly within the past five years, partic- 

 ularly in mathematics, English and foreign 

 languages ; but even now comparatively 

 few of the engineering departments of the 

 universities have as high requirements for 

 admission as the literary departments. Is 

 this justifiable? 



2. Is it wise to require advanced algebra 

 and trigonometry for admission to the en- 

 gineering courses? Is it wise to require 

 prospective students to take these subjects 

 in secondary schools to the exclusion of 

 subjects in science, literature or history? 

 Will the forcing of these subjects into the 

 curricula of the secondary schools handicap 

 them in discharging their just obligations 

 toward students who are not seeking an 

 engineering education ? Which subject can 

 the preparatory school teach the better? 

 Which school will teach the mathematics 

 the better ? 



3. At some institutions a considerable 

 number of engineering students have had 

 previous collegiate training. Can anything 

 be done to increase their number ? 



4. Engineering courses have become so 

 highly specialized that frequently students 

 of one course receive no instruction in the 

 fundamental technical subjects of a closely 

 allied branch of engineering. This prac- 

 tice is burdensome upon the school and is 

 probably not of the highest advantage to 

 the student. But the colleges are not likely 

 to retrace their steps, and therefore the 

 highly specialized course is a condition to 

 be reckoned with. Should anything be 

 done to prevent further specialization? 



Some students correct the defects due to 

 high specialization by remaining a fifth 

 year and pursuing the allied course. Can 

 anything be done to increase the number 

 who do this ? 



5. The engineering course of to-day is so 

 loaded with required technical and scien- 

 tific work that the student has little or no 

 time to cultivate those subjects, indefinitely, 

 but not inappropriately, called the human- 

 ities. Engineering students, more per- 

 haps than any othei's, need training in 

 such subjects. Those who follow the other 

 learned professions deal constantly in their 

 technical work with the relationships of 

 their fellow men, while the engineer in his 

 professional work deals mainly with the in- 

 animate world. The engineer has little 

 opportunity to come into intimate relations 

 with men either through the study of his- 

 tory, economics and sociology, or through 

 personal contact. The engineer usually 

 possesses strong character, sound judgment, 

 thorough knowledge of his business ; but 

 frequently because of a lack of that knowl- 

 edge which other men consider essential in 

 a liberal education, he is ranked as a rela- 

 tively uncultivated man, and therefore is 

 unable to exercise the influence his train- 

 ing justifies, and fails to secure the reward 

 his abilities merit. Can the instructors in 

 engineering create in the mind of the engi- 

 neering student such a hungering for a 

 knowledge of the humanities that he will 

 secure it after graduation by private study 

 and personal intercourse ? 



Such, then, are the conditions and the 

 problems of engineering education as we 

 step into the twentieth century. The pres- 

 ent conditions have been determined largely 

 by the engineering colleges themselves in 

 advance of the demands of the engineering 

 profession and of the general public, and 

 often in opposition to such demands. 

 Chiefiy through the influence of the engi- 

 neering college the engineering profession 



