Middle Ages

The earliest practical wind-powered machines, the windmill and wind pump, first appeared in

the Muslim world during the Islamic Golden Age, in what are now Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, by
the 9th century AD.[24][25][26][27] The earliest practical steam-powered machine was a steam jack driven
by a steam turbine, described in 1551 by Taqi al-Din Muhammad ibn Ma'ruf in Ottoman Egypt.[28][29]
The cotton gin was invented in India by the 6th century AD,[30] and the spinning wheel was invented
in the Islamic world by the early 11th century,[31] both of which were fundamental to the growth of
the cotton industry. The spinning wheel was also a precursor to the spinning jenny, which was a key
development during the early Industrial Revolution in the 18th century.
[32]
 The crankshaft and camshaft were invented by Al-Jazari in Northern Mesopotamia circa 1206,[33][34]
[35]
 and they later became central to modern machinery such as the steam engine, internal
combustion engine and automatic controls.[36]
The earliest programmable machines were developed in the Muslim world. A music sequencer, a
programmable musical instrument, was the earliest type of programmable machine. The first music
sequencer was an automated flute player invented by the Banu Musa brothers, described in
their Book of Ingenious Devices, in the 9th century.[37][38] In 1206, Al-Jazari invented
programmable automata/robots. He described four automaton musicians, including drummers
operated by a programmable drum machine, where they could be made to play different rhythms
and different drum patterns.[39] The castle clock, a hydropowered mechanical astronomical
clock invented by Al-Jazari, was the first programmable analog computer.[40][41][42]

A water-powered mine hoist used for raising ore, ca. 1556

Before the development of modern engineering, mathematics was used by artisans and craftsmen,
such as millwrights, clockmakers, instrument makers and surveyors. Aside from these professions,
universities were not believed to have had much practical significance to technology. [43]:32
A standard reference for the state of mechanical arts during the Renaissance is given in the mining
engineering treatise De re metallica (1556), which also contains sections on geology, mining, and
chemistry. De re metallica was the standard chemistry reference for the next 180 years.[43]

Modern era
The application of the steam engine allowed coke to be substituted for charcoal in iron making, lowering the
cost of iron, which provided engineers with a new material for building bridges. This bridge was made of cast
iron, which was soon displaced by less brittle wrought iron as a structural material

The science of classical mechanics, sometimes called Newtonian mechanics, formed the scientific
basis of much of modern engineering. [43] With the rise of engineering as a profession in the 18th
century, the term became more narrowly applied to fields in which mathematics and science were
applied to these ends. Similarly, in addition to military and civil engineering, the fields then known as
the mechanic arts became incorporated into engineering.
Canal building was an important engineering work during the early phases of the Industrial
Revolution.[44]
John Smeaton was the first self-proclaimed civil engineer and is often regarded as the "father" of
civil engineering. He was an English civil engineer responsible for the design of bridges, canals,
harbors, and lighthouses. He was also a capable mechanical engineer and an eminent physicist.
Using a model water wheel, Smeaton conducted experiments for seven years, determining ways to
increase efficiency.[45]:127 Smeaton introduced iron axles and gears to water wheels. [43]:69 Smeaton also
made mechanical improvements to the Newcomen steam engine. Smeaton designed the
third Eddystone Lighthouse (1755–59) where he pioneered the use of 'hydraulic lime' (a form
of mortar which will set under water) and developed a technique involving dovetailed blocks of
granite in the building of the lighthouse. He is important in the history, rediscovery of, and
development of modern cement, because he identified the compositional requirements needed to
obtain "hydraulicity" in lime; work which led ultimately to the invention of Portland cement.
Applied science lead to the development of the steam engine. The sequence of events began with
the invention the barometer and the measurement of atmospheric pressure by Evangelista
Torricelli in 1643, demonstration of the force of atmospheric pressure by Otto von Guericke using
the Magdeburg hemispheres in 1656, laboratory experiments by Denis Papin, who built experimental
model steam engines and demonstrated the use of a piston, which he published in 1707. Edward
Somerset, 2nd Marquess of Worcester published a book of 100 inventions containing a method for
raising waters similar to a coffee percolator. Samuel Morland, a mathematician and inventor who
worked on pumps, left notes at the Vauxhall Ordinance Office on a steam pump design that Thomas
Savery read. In 1698 Savery built a steam pump called "The Miner's Friend." It employed both
vacuum and pressure.[46] Iron merchant Thomas Newcomen, who built the first commercial piston
steam engine in 1712, was not known to have any scientific training. [45]:32
Jumbo Jet

The application of steam-powered cast iron blowing cylinders for providing pressurized air for blast
furnaces lead to a large increase in iron production in the late 18th century. The higher furnace
temperatures made possible with steam-powered blast allowed for the use of more lime in blast
furnaces, which enabled the transition from charcoal to coke.[47] These innovations lowered the cost
of iron, making horse railways and iron bridges practical. The puddling process, patented by Henry
Cort in 1784 produced large scale quantities of wrought iron. Hot blast, patented by James
Beaumont Neilson in 1828, greatly lowered the amount of fuel needed to smelt iron. With the
development of the high pressure steam engine, the power to weight ratio of steam engines made
practical steamboats and locomotives possible.[48] New steel making processes, such as
the Bessemer process and the open hearth furnace, ushered in an area of heavy engineering in the
late 19th century.
One of the most famous engineers of the mid 19th century was Isambard Kingdom Brunel, who built
railroads, dockyards and steamships.

Offshore platform, Gulf of Mexico

The Industrial Revolution created a demand for machinery with metal parts, which led to the
development of several machine tools. Boring cast iron cylinders with precision was not possible
until John Wilkinson invented his boring machine, which is considered the first machine tool.[49] Other
machine tools included the screw cutting lathe, milling machine, turret lathe and the metal planer.
Precision machining techniques were developed in the first half of the 19th century. These included
the use of gigs to guide the machining tool over the work and fixtures to hold the work in the proper
position. Machine tools and machining techniques capable of producing interchangeable parts lead
to large scale factory production by the late 19th century.[50]
The United States census of 1850 listed the occupation of "engineer" for the first time with a count of
2,000.[51] There were fewer than 50 engineering graduates in the U.S. before 1865. In 1870 there
were a dozen U.S. mechanical engineering graduates, with that number increasing to 43 per year in
1875. In 1890, there were 6,000 engineers in civil, mining, mechanical and electrical.[52]
There was no chair of applied mechanism and applied mechanics at Cambridge until 1875, and no
chair of engineering at Oxford until 1907. Germany established technical universities earlier. [53]
The foundations of electrical engineering in the 1800s included the experiments of Alessandro
Volta, Michael Faraday, Georg Ohm and others and the invention of the electric telegraph in 1816
and the electric motor in 1872. The theoretical work of James Maxwell (see: Maxwell's equations)
and Heinrich Hertz in the late 19th century gave rise to the field of electronics. The later inventions of
the vacuum tube and the transistor further accelerated the development of electronics to such an
extent that electrical and electronics engineers currently outnumber their colleagues of any other
engineering specialty.[5] Chemical engineering developed in the late nineteenth century.[5] Industrial
scale manufacturing demanded new materials and new processes and by 1880 the need for large
scale production of chemicals was such that a new industry was created, dedicated to the
development and large scale manufacturing of chemicals in new industrial plants. [5] The role of the
chemical engineer was the design of these chemical plants and processes. [5]

The solar furnace at Odeillo in the Pyrénées-Orientales in France can reach temperatures up to 3,500 °C

(6,330 °F)

Aeronautical engineering deals with aircraft design process design while aerospace engineering is a

more modern term that expands the reach of the discipline by including spacecraft design. Its origins
can be traced back to the aviation pioneers around the start of the 20th century although the work
of Sir George Cayley has recently been dated as being from the last decade of the 18th century.
Early knowledge of aeronautical engineering was largely empirical with some concepts and skills
imported from other branches of engineering.[54]
The first PhD in engineering (technically, applied science and engineering) awarded in the United
States went to Josiah Willard Gibbs at Yale University in 1863; it was also the second PhD awarded
in science in the U.S.[55]
Only a decade after the successful flights by the Wright brothers, there was extensive development
of aeronautical engineering through development of military aircraft that were used in World War I.
Meanwhile, research to provide fundamental background science continued by combining theoretical
physics with experiments.

Main branches of engineering

For a topical guide to this subject, see Outline of engineering.
Hoover Dam

Engineering is a broad discipline that is often broken down into several sub-disciplines. Although an
engineer will usually be trained in a specific discipline, he or she may become multi-disciplined
through experience. Engineering is often characterized as having four main branches: [56][57][58] chemical
engineering, civil engineering, electrical engineering, and mechanical engineering.

Chemical engineering
Main article: Chemical engineering

Chemical engineering is the application of physics, chemistry, biology, and engineering principles in
order to carry out chemical processes on a commercial scale, such as the manufacture
of commodity chemicals, specialty chemicals, petroleum refining, microfabrication, fermentation,
and biomolecule production.

Civil engineering
Main article: Civil engineering

Civil engineering is the design and construction of public and private works, such
as infrastructure (airports, roads, railways, water supply, and treatment etc.), bridges, tunnels, dams,
and buildings.[59][60] Civil engineering is traditionally broken into a number of sub-disciplines,
including structural engineering, environmental engineering, and surveying. It is traditionally
considered to be separate from military engineering.[61]

Computer engineering
Main article: Computer engineering

Computer engineering (CE) is a branch of engineering that integrates several fields of computer
science and electronic engineering required to develop computer hardware and software. Computer
engineers usually have training in electronic engineering (or electrical engineering), software design,
and hardware-software integration instead of only software engineering or electronic engineering.

Electrical engineering
Main article: Electrical engineering
Electric motor

Electrical engineering is the design, study, and manufacture of various electrical and electronic
systems, such as broadcast engineering, electrical
circuits, generators, motors, electromagnetic/electromechanical devices, electronic
devices, electronic circuits, optical fibers, optoelectronic
devices, computer systems, telecommunications, instrumentation, control systems, and electronics.

Mechanical engineering
Main article: Mechanical engineering

Mechanical engineering is the design and manufacture of physical or mechanical systems, such as
power and energy systems, aerospace/aircraft products, weapon
systems, transportation products, engines, compressors, powertrains, kinematic chains, vacuum
technology, vibration isolation equipment, manufacturing, robotics, turbines, audio equipments,
and mechatronics.

Interdisciplinary engineering
Main article: List of engineering branches

Interdisciplinary engineering draws from more than one of the principle branches of the practice.
Historically, naval engineering and mining engineering were major branches. Other engineering
fields are manufacturing engineering, acoustical engineering, corrosion engineering, instrumentation
and control, aerospace, automotive, computer, electronic, information
engineering, petroleum, environmental, systems, audio, software, architectural, agricultural, biosyste
ms, biomedical,[62] geological, textile, industrial, materials,[63] and nuclear engineering.[64] These and
other branches of engineering are represented in the 36 licensed member institutions of the
UK Engineering Council.
New specialties sometimes combine with the traditional fields and form new branches – for
example, Earth systems engineering and management involves a wide range of subject areas
including engineering studies, environmental science, engineering ethics and philosophy of
engineering.

Other branches of engineering

Aerospace engineering
Main article: Aerospace engineering

Aerospace engineering studies design, manufacture aircraft, satellites, rockets, helicopters, and so
on. It closely studies the pressure difference and aerodynamics of a vehicle to ensure safety and
efficiency. Since most of the studies are related to fluids, it is applied to any moving vehicle, such as
cars.
Marine engineering
Main article: Marine engineering

Marine engineering is associated with anything on or near the ocean. Examples are, but not limited
to, ships, submarines, oil rigs, structure, watercraft propulsion, on-board design and development,
plants, harbors, and so on. It requires a combined knowledge in mechanical engineering, electrical
engineering, civil engineering,and some programming abilities.

Practice
One who practices engineering is called an engineer, and those licensed to do so may have more
formal designations such as Professional Engineer, Chartered Engineer, Incorporated
Engineer, Ingenieur, European Engineer, or Designated Engineering Representative.

Methodology

Design of a turbine requires collaboration of engineers from many fields, as the system involves mechanical,
electro-magnetic and chemical processes. The blades, rotor and stator as well as the steam cycle all need to
be carefully designed and optimized.

In the engineering design process, engineers apply mathematics and sciences such as physics to

find novel solutions to problems or to improve existing solutions. Engineers need proficient
knowledge of relevant sciences for their design projects. As a result, many engineers continue to
learn new material throughout their career.
If multiple solutions exist, engineers weigh each design choice based on their merit and choose the
solution that best matches the requirements. The t