BASICS OF ENGINEERING
What is engineering?
Engineering is a discipline that deals with the “art” or science of applying scientific
knowledge to solve practical problems, usually in the areas of commerce and industry.
Scientists ask the “why” of a question, then research the answer; in contrast, engi-
neers want to know how to solve the problem and then how to implement the solu-
tion. But it’s not always easy to separate the two. Often a scientist has to use engineer-
ing basics (such as building special equipment for research), and engineers often have
to do scientific research.
The word engineer (as well as engine) developed from the Latin root ingeniosus
(“skilled”); in some languages, such as Arabic, the word for engineering also means
“geometry.” The various branches of engineering include aerospace, agriculture,
architectural, biomedical, computer, civil, chemical, electrical, environmental,
mechanical, petroleum, and material science.
What types of mathematicsare used in engineering?
Mathematics is definitely a necessity in engineering, especially the fields of algebra,
geometry, calculus, and statistics. Certain divisions of engineering rely on variations of
mathematics, including combinations of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, differ-
ential equations, probability and statistics, complex analysis, and others. For example,
civil and structural engineers use a great deal of linear algebra and work with matrices.
Mechanical engineers use logs and exponents, calculus, differential equations, and
probability and statistics. And a chemical engineer uses such mathematics as algebra
and geometry, logs and exponents, integral calculus, and differential equations. 323
MATH IN
ENGINEERING