Engineering Fundamentals: An Introduction to Engineering, 4th ed.c

19th century, was one billion. Think about it. It took us since the beginning of human existence

to reach a population of one billion. It only took 110 years to increase the population by fivefold.

Some of us have a good standard of living, but some of us living in developing countries do not.

You will probably agree that our world would be a better place if every one of us had enough to

eat, a comfortable and safe place to live, meaningful work to do, and some time for relaxation.

According to the latest estimates and projections of the U.S. Census Bureau, the world

population will reach 9.3 billion people by the year 2050. Not only will the number of people

inhabiting the earth continue to rise but the age structure of the world population will also

change. The world’s elderly population — the people at least 65 years of age —will more than

double in the next 25 years (see Figure 1.2).

How is this information relevant? Well, now that you have decided to study to become an

engineer, you need to realize that what you do in a few years after your graduation is very

1.1 Engineering Work Is All Around You 7

10

9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0

1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000

Year

(a)

2010 2020 2030 2040 2050

Population (billions)

1990 37,307

2050

0 30 40 100 300

Over-100 population (thousands)

* estimate

(b)

500 700 900

Year

834, 000*

■Figure 1.2(a) The latest projection of world population growth. (b) The latest estimate of U.S. elderly population growth.

Source:Data from the U.S. Census Bureau

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