We often hear about better living through science. Yet progress in improving our lives most often comes from engineers rather than scientists. Engineers make the things that improve the human condition. Scientists follow, explaining how and why the things engineers make work, and taking the credit. We speak of rocket science, when it is really rocket engineering.
“The Things We Make: The Unknown History of Invention from Cathedrals to Soda Cans,” by Bill Hammack explores engineering and the engineering method. It shows how invention really works.
