PA Radio: Science Report -- Energy Crisis in the Roman Empire

2 Responses

  • Graeme Edgeler,

    "Science is a tribute to what we can know although we are fallible."

    Wellington, New Zealand • Since Nov 2006 • 3215 posts Report

  • David Haywood,

    Thank you for that, Graham -- incredibly powerful stuff. Almost too anguishing to watch.

    When I was a (very junior and temporary) engineering lecturer, I used to begin my lecture on the IPENZ code of ethics by talking about Auschwitz-Birkenau. I'd present diagrams of the material flows in an (unnamed) "factory from the 1940s" -- showing how efficient it was and how they almost closed all the waste streams, etc. Then I would explain what those highly-talented university-educated engineers had designed.

    It seemed like a good way of pointing out that engineering isn't just about numbers and following procedures. It can very easy for design engineers (as opposed to engineering scientists, perhaps) to focus on solving technical problems at the exclusion of their meaning in the context of the wider world. Engineers are responsible for so many good things, but we shouldn't ignore the 'terrible successes' that engineers have also achieved.

    Dunsandel • Since Nov 2006 • 1156 posts Report

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