The profession of engineering in some of its branches is one of the oldest recorded in history. This statement which is a rather sweeping one requires some explanation. Engineering can well be divided into two general classes based on certain broad principles rather than into the many divisions commonly used in which the classification is on a purely industrial basis. There are two broad divisions of engineering which cover practically all forms of engineering activity. These are research engineering and constructive or creative engineering. In the former division are included the work of the scientist, the work of the investigator and the work of the inventor; in the latter the work of those whose task it is to assemble the knowledge gained in research during all time and to use such knowledge in the creation of things of value to all the people, such as the simple telephone receiver or the complicated telephone plant of a great city, or in planning for the production of the articles in question.
Research engineering is the foundation upon which the great fabric of constructive engineering must rest; it is the work of the research engineer that was recorded many hundreds of years ago. On the other hand, constructive or creative engineering has grown to its present clearly defined position during the last 100 years. Its development has followed closely the lines of industrial evolution for reasons that are plain. In the earliest days industry was purely personal, as in the making of stone implements or of armor. It was entirely natural that the maker should also design his product. Later on such activities as the building of ships required a community of effort which had appeared from time to time theretofore in the construction of buildings or bridges. In almost every case, however, the director of the work was likewise the one who determined its form.
Until about 100 years ago industry was still relatively in an undeveloped condition. It is true that wind and waterpower were both used in a small way in various operations, but the coming of the steam engine was needed to start the growth that has resulted in the highly organized industrial world of today. The steam engine by itself could meet only in a limited way the requirements of a great industrial expansion. Coupled with the necessary steam boiler it could not be operated economically except in units of moderate size, owing to the lack of suitable means for distributing the power produced. Electric transmission finally solved this problem not only for the steam engine but for the immense available waterpower previously going almost entirely to waste. The discovery of petroleum and the subsequent development of the internal-combustion engine capable of being operated by anyone of average intelligence and of furnishing power economically in units of the smallest size broadened still further the field of industrial possibilities.
The effect of industrial growth and concentration was an increasing specialization not only in the duties of the directing minds. Under this pressure there came finally an almost complete separation between the work of planning for and the work of directing the production. The work of planning for production, either in designing the article to be produced or in laying out the method of production, has now become the province of the constructive or creative engineer. In the smaller shops the duties of planning for and of directing production are still sometimes combined with those of actual production or operation, but such cases represent a minor proportion of the total. The reason for this condition is fairly obvious; the work of designing or planning requires special training, a broad understanding of the results of world-wide and age-long research in the field to be covered and a constant study of current research. This knowledge cannot be obtained and properly assimilated except under conditions permitting almost undivided attention to the subject in hand and excluding the necessity of giving attention to the multifarious questions arising in the executive management of production or operation.
It is certainly easy to recognize the effect that this development has had on the opportunities for the trained engineer. One hundred years ago a few laboratories or an occasional observatory presented themselves as possible places of employment. Today there is not a single industry that does not make use of the services of the engineer in some way. Even the farmer is finally succumbing to the mechanical operation of the farm. In most industries the engineer has to do not only with the original design of apparatus but also with the methods of production and subsequently with the operation in service.