ENGINEERING HISTORY: ORIGIN AND EVOLUTION - SCIENCE - 2026

The history of engineering goes back to very remote times, from the invention of tools such as the lever or the wheel, which facilitated the performance of other jobs using basic mechanical principles.

The word engineer has its roots in Latin. Ingenium literally translates to the innate qualities of a person, but militarily it was used to call for war machines that were built by humans.

Those who could operate such creations were known as ingeniairus and ingeniator. From there the word must have moved to French engigneur and then to English engineer (machinist).

The first manifestations of engineering occurred in the Ancient Age with the great constructions such as the pyramids, both Egyptian and pre-Columbian. Likewise, there are the great works of the Greeks and Romans, who brought engineering to other aspects of life such as the military.

Pyramids of Giza. Source: By Most likely Hamish2k, the first uploader (Most likely Hamish2k, the first uploader), via Wikimedia Commons

In Medieval times, advances in civil engineering gave way to Gothic architecture in Europe, while in Asia important advances were made in the areas of metallurgy and hydrography.

From then on, areas of specialization such as military, mechanical, and civil engineering began to separate and new names were added to that list.

Electrical engineering emerged with Volta in the 19th century. Later, the electronics were detached from it. Also the nineteenth century, gave way to chemical engineering, which went hand in hand with mechanics trying to meet the needs of the latter.

Alexandra Bogdan, from Wikimedia Commons

Later aeronautics was added, which was necessary during the First and Second World War. One of the most recent became popular in the 1980s and is computer engineering.

Old age

Fæ (digital corrections)

The first engineer on record was named Imhotep, and was a builder of the step pyramid that is located in Saqqara, Egypt. It was built for Pharaoh Zoser of the Third Dynasty.

Imhotep is believed to have been the first to use columns for architecture. His works date from approximately 2550 BC

There is a theory that the great projects of antiquity could have taken the witness of the work of this Egyptian using empirical methods, at the same time that they gave use to other sciences such as geometry, physics and arithmetic.

There are few examples of ancient architecture that can be named. Among the most outstanding works are: the Lighthouse of Alexandria, the Temple of Solomon, the Roman Colosseum and, of course, the aqueducts.

Also the Greek Acropolis and Parthenon, the Mesopotamian ziggurats and the structures of the Native Americans such as the Mayans, Incas or Aztecs.

In addition, one of the greatest works of humanity is located in Asia, such as the Great Wall of China.

As for the architecture of the Romans, its principles were established in the Book of Architecture written by Marcus Vitruvius Pollio, where he relates his experience and what he knew about the theory of Greek architectural works, which were the basis of this discipline for the Romans.

Machines

However, the Greeks were among the first to use machines for different purposes. First, there was the military use in creating weapons. There is also a record of the first mechanical computer known as the Antikythera Mechanism, dating from the 2nd or 3rd century BC.

See page for author, via Wikimedia Commons

Middle Ages

High Middle Ages

Despite the fact that by many it is considered that engineering did not have great advances in the High Middle Ages, the opposite can be said, since at that time thanks to the development of Christianity throughout Western civilization, the work done by slaves was not good viewed.

Then, the Catholic religion was what led to the development of techniques that allowed large jobs to be carried out with fewer personnel. However, there was a period when the quality and quantity of buildings declined.

Roland Zumbühl, Arlesheim, via Wikimedia Commons

At this time in Europe the style that dominated architecture was pre-Romanesque. Through this stream, the builders copied the design of the structures created by the Romans.

Middle Ages

In the late Middle Ages the great Gothic cathedrals were built. In addition, due to the constant confrontations between Islamists and Catholics, the construction of castles and fortresses became necessary.

As for the Asians, they made great strides during that time, including their specialization in metallurgy. In addition, they were responsible for the creation of greaseproof paper and gunpowder, which changed the course of history by being brought to Europe.

In Turkey, different advances were made in terms of mechanical engineering, since more than 50 mechanical devices were developed for different purposes, including pumping water to supply the city of Damascus, especially in mosques and hospitals.

user: Grenavitar, via Wikimedia Commons

On top of that, mechanical controls, clocks, and some very basic automata were devised.

In the 13th century the engineer Villard de Honnecourt created the Book of Sketches. In this, his knowledge, applied to construction, of areas such as mathematics, geometry, natural sciences, physics and drawing talents is expressed.

Despite this, during that time knowledge was transferred from teacher to apprentice and was not standardized.

Renaissance

During 1445 Johannes Gutenberg manufactured a machine that changed the history of mankind: the printing press. Until then, books were copied by hand in an almost artisanal way and few had access to them.

But the arrival of Gutenberg's printing press revolutionized the way of transmitting knowledge, by allowing texts to be reproduced quickly and in large volume thanks to a mechanical process at a much lower cost.

This process consisted of applying ink on metal parts and transferring it to paper by pressure.

Thanks to the printing press, which allowed the dissemination of information to a greater number of people, engineering could begin to be part of a separate task.

Graferocommons, from Wikimedia Commons

This means that knowledge was no longer transmitted from the apprentice teacher or from father to son, but there could be people dedicated to the study of certain aspects of science. That was what allowed the separation between engineering and architecture or mechanics and military science.

During the Renaissance, the construction of large domes became popular, especially in religious buildings. This structure had existed since ancient times, but its design evolved and, during the Renaissance, a solution emerged to the problem of complicated scaffolding.

English: Eugene PivovarovРусский: Евгений Пивоваров, from Wikimedia Commons

The way that was found during the Renaissance was to build two domes that were supported one by the other, one on the outside and the other inside, with a strong structural union between the two. The greatest exponent of this structure was the Basilica of Saint Peter.

Industrial Revolution

A couple of centuries later came the invention that generated a revolution in all aspects of human life as it was known until then: the steam engine.

From there, a theory that broke schemes began to explode, which indicated that heat could be used as energy.

Tico1516-Judith, from Wikimedia Commons

The economy of many countries took off thanks to the application of this device, which transformed the thermal energy of water into mechanical energy thanks to a motor.

This is how the Industrial Revolution began, since thanks to this machine and its successors, the mass production of products and other devices that could take advantage of that energy was allowed.

Among the inventions that broke the established paradigms, was the automated manufacturing of textiles, which radically changed the behavior of the market and the labor system that existed until then.

In addition, another of the great mechanical developments of humanity emerged from that same period: the locomotive. This is how animal and human labor, almost artisanal, was dispensed with to give rise to mass production and a new type of society.

Hapesoft, from Wikimedia Commons

Modernity

After the Industrial Revolution, other processes also influenced the history of engineering. For example, the experimentation that intensified from 1816 with the communication system known as the telegraph, which eventually achieved its more stable prototypes after the contributions of Samuel Morse in 1838.

Lourdes Cardenal, from Wikimedia Commons

Thus the doors were opened to the electromagnetic studies that took place during the 19th century. This was one of the most necessary impulses to separate the study of electrical engineering from future telecommunications engineering, which would come later, given the multiple advances in the area.

Also, as a need to supply what the growing manufacturing and mechanical industry demanded, everything related to chemistry entered a much more careful exploration process.

Then, it was intended to get other sources of energy for the operation of the engines, and to supply the materials and products industry.

Contemporary

During the First and Second World War, the use of more sophisticated weapons was the only way to be able to outperform the opponent and at the same time demonstrate the power, not only military, but also technical and scientific, of the victorious nations.

This gave impetus to various fields of engineering, including aeronautics, with the creation of aircraft for military use, and also in the naval sector, thanks to the most advanced vessels or submarines.

Master Sgt. Michael A. Kaplan, via Wikimedia Commons

On the other hand, these conflicts contributed to the development of mechanical engineering, especially in war tanks and armaments, which with the passing of time became more automated.

Thus, military engineering finally got rid of mere machinery and sought, rather, to find a path specialized in certain tasks related to the administration of resources, although without totally neglecting its mechanical and civil roots.

Nuclear engineering was another of the branches that was largely supported by the war, although it was trying to find utility as an energy source in the radiation that these elements gave off when carrying out certain processes, thinking that it would be a clean energy source.

Information for everyone

Other of the great advances that the last decades have brought to engineering studies are in the area of ​​technology; computing, electronics and software development.

These are elements that progressively evolve allowing a greater democratization of access to information every day. That process began to increase with the massification of computers in the mid-1980s, when it became popular in homes.

Genetics

Finally, one of the types of engineering that has raised some problems in the field of professional ethics is that of genetics.

It is considered that experimentation with living beings, even if it is only animals, could go against nature, in addition to being an unknown consequence of these processes.

But in 2019 the first genetically modified twins have already been born in China, something that is unprecedented.

Types of engineering throughout history

From its birth to the present, engineering has diversified into many branches to specialize the study of some areas and allow a deeper and more delicate development of each of the fields of work.

- Aerospace Engineering

- Airport engineering

- Agricultural engineering

- Environmental engineering

- Bioengineering

- Biomedical engineering

- Civil engineering

- Building engineering

- Electrical engineering

- Electromechanical engineering

- Electronic Engineering

- Energy engineering

- Railway engineering

- Forestry engineering

- Genetic engineering

- Geoengineering

- Hydraulic engineering

- Industrial engineering

- Automotive engineering

- Audio engineering

- Control engineering

- Computer engineering

- Mechanical Engineering

- Military engineering

- Mining engineering

- Naval engineering

- Petroleum engineering

- Polymer engineering

- Fire protection engineering

- Chemical engineering

- Sanitary engineering

- Systems engineering

- Software engineering

- Sound engineering

- Telecommunications engineering

- Power engineering

- Cost engineering

- Computer engineering

- Molecular engineering

- Urban engineering

References

1. Smith, R. (2019). Engineering - science. Encyclopedia Britannica. Available at: britannica.com.
2. En.wikipedia.org. (2019). History of engineering. Available at: en.wikipedia.org.
3. Yepez, V. (2017). Notes on engineering in the Renaissance - Víctor Yepes' blog. Polytechnic university of Valencia. Available at: victoryepes.blogs.upv.es.
4. CK-12 Foundation (2012). A Brief History of Engineering.. Available at: ck12.org.
5. Toro and Gisbert, M. and Garcia-Pelayo and Gross, R. (1970). Little Larousse illustrated. Paris: Ed. Larousse, p.578.