Engineering and the Mind's Eye (Mit Press)

In "Engineering and the Mind's Eye," Eugene Ferguson offers a compelling argument that the way we perceive and educate engineers today is at odds with the way the reality of being a good engineer:"Necessary as the analytical tools of science and mathematics most certainly are, more important is the development in student and neophyte engineers of sound judgment and an intuitive sense of fitness and adequacy."No matter how vigorously a 'science' of design may be pushed, the successful design of real things in a contingent world will always be based more on art than on science. Unquantifiable judgments and choices are the elements that determine the way a design comes together. Engineering design is simply that kind of process. It always has been; it always will be."This book is an urgent plea to restore engineering education as one of tinkering and artistry -- and the author is absolutely right.

This book should be required reading for all engineers. It reviews how the art, practical and design type courses were taken out of the engineering schools in the 1950's and how those schools are now correcting the situation.The author reviews the importance of practical experience and the ability to sketch... particularly for chief engineers.Most impressive and perhaps most important was the panoramic history of engineering, design and creativity. The book has beautiful pictures and an extensive bibliography.I found interesting that Leonardo's notebooks were only part of the many notebooks prepared during the Renaissance. And, that many of them copied drawings of earlier works. Lots of pictures of these notebooks are included, along with pictures of the extensive use of models (mostly fortifications) used at this time... and all the way up to WWII.The author discusses how CAD systems really help on the productivity but include so many limiting asssumptions that they may stifle creativity. Particularly bad from the author's point of view is the over reliance on math. He points out that most engineering problems are messy, and not amenable to a clean mathematical solution. And, that we have all these younger engineers looking only for clean problems so they can put their math training to work. Unfortunately, nature is not so co-operative.His solution: more drawing and more practical experience. For example, budding engineers should get out into the field and go see the problem, or visit other plants. They should build prototypes and learn how to operate a lathe. In this regard he likes Dutch and German engineering schools best.This is a great book that any engineer should add to his permanent collection.John DunbarSugar Land, TX

I was looking for a "popular engineering" book, not one solely about history of engineering or of the "how does it work?" kind, but one like the many there are on popular science. This is an essay which delineates the history of mechanical and civil engineering from a special perspective. The author shows how the approach and teaching of engineering moved back and forth between a scientific or analytical and a more practical or nonverbal kind of view. There are many examples and different kinds of illustrations. But there is no single right" solution to the design of a machine like there is one solution to a mathematical problem. The engineer has to use the nonverbal mind's eye. Ferguson not only emphasises the need for nonverbal thinking and communication, but also that the mind's eye and a feeling or intuition for design can only be developed by doing and practice.This book is interesting for engineers as it gives a sort of overview that can be easily lost solving particular problems during training or working as an engineer. I learned a lot about engineering, its relation to science, its history and about technical rawings and can recommend it to everybody who works with engineers.

I actually found this book at my university's library. It helped me focus and finish my degree with some new insight andninsoirsrion.. I I would recommend this book to any recent engineering graduate, engineering student or anyone interested in engineering.

I love the examples of what engineers now a days take for granted. Amazing writing, a must read for professionals out there!

...having a talent for it. One can receive a fine engineering education, but it's more important to have an inborn understanding for visualizing the physical and chemical systems that underlie everything. This book gives excellent examples of the two schools of engineering. I recommend it to all current and prospective engineers, with gusto!

A short, nicely written book. A must read for those with an interest in history of technology, engineering or education. Time well spent for almost any intellegent reader. A lot of "bang for your buck" with this one!

Had to read it for a class, and very much enjoyed it. Must read for engineering students, whether it's required or not.

There are very few good books on the practice and philosophy of "good engineering", especially in the modern age as our devising shifts inexorably away from that of the artisan towards a computationally entombed set of rules. This book is by no means a call to return to the age of the artisan, but is a heartfelt plea for engineers to establish a gestalt conceptualization, an intuition, for their work rather than being solely driven by calculation sheet and colourful computer representations. If you're an engineer, this should be on your bookshelf, if you're not, but are interested in how engineers think, or should think, about their works, this is for you.

This is a good book, and am glad to own a copy of it. It's very forthright in the idea that the use of diagrams, can assist with the enrichment of what is being published in an engineering project. Probably something Architects are very familiar with, but I might have read somewhere that the Greeks named their engineers, Architects. ++++

As someone who both practices and teaches engineering design, I was overjoyed to find that someone had eloquently documented the need for visualization, sensory experience, and complex, ill-defined pathways to properly design. Excellent ideas, well written, should be required reading by engineering faculty.

Se siete un ingegnere avanti negli anni e da giovane avete usate il regolo, allora questo libro é per voi.Come dico sempre ai mie figli, un ingegnere deve saper distinguere "la ciccia dalla fuffa" e questo libro fornisce tanti esempi

Really great essay/book about concepts of engineering, thought process, learning, and education.It's short and informative, i read it in one day, just couldn't stop.I highly recommend it to every engineer, educator and student. I wish i read this book when i was student. It really answers a lot of questions and can put one on the right path of learning, thinking and doing things.Ivica ČulinaElectrical engineer