For tens of thousands of years the human race used their muscles and the labor of animals to build a world that differed little from that known by all their ancestors. But in 1776 James Watt installed the fi rst of his improved steam engines in a commercial enterprise, kicking off the industrial revolution.

The 1800s were known as “ the great age of the engineer. ” Engineers were viewed as the celebrities of the age, as the architects of tomorrow, the great hope for civilization. (For a wonderful description of these times read Isamard Kingdom Brunel , by L.T.C. Rolt.) Yet during that century, one of every four bridges failed. Tunnels routinely fl ooded.

How things have changed!

Our successes at transforming the world brought stink and smog, factories weeping poisons, and landfi lls overfl owing with products made obsolete in the course of months. The Challenger explosion destroyed many people ’ s faith in complex technology (which shows just how little understanding Americans have of complexity). An odd resurgence of the worship of the primitive is directly at odds with the profession we embrace. Declining test scores and an urge to make a lot of money now have caused drastic declines in US engineering enrollments.