Week 8: Inventing Speed

We read the first half of Leinhard's How Invention Begins.

Goals:

• Consider the nature of invention and why people invent.
• Learn about the history, science, and uses of the steam engine.
• Get some perspective on engineering fields other than structural engineering.

Monday, March 9: Priority and apriority

Read Leinhard, Preface through Chapter 3 (pp. vii - 32).

1. Try to define invention.
2. According to Leinhard, people have many misconceptions about invention. What is one of them?
3. What was the most important or surprising thing you learned?
4. What is one question about the reading that you would like to discuss?
5. About how long did you spend on the reading and your response?

• Members of study teams 1 and 2 should post their answers to the above questions in the appropriate forum. As a reminder, reading responses are due by 7:30 the day before the class meeting.

Wednesday, March 11: Steam engines

Read Leinhard, Chapters 4 through 6 (pp. 35 - 93).

As you read, consider the following questions:

1. How does Lienhard present the relationship between technology and science? Why does he include a chapter on thermodynamics in a book on invention? (Cite specific pages/quotations if possible.)
2. What is one similarity you see between the story of the steam engine and that of the airplane? What is one difference?
3. What was the most important or surprising thing you learned?
4. What is one question about the reading that you would like to discuss?
5. About how long did you spend on the reading and your response?

• Members of study teams 3 and 4 should post their answers to the above questions in the appropriate forum. As a reminder, reading responses are due by 7:30 the day before the class meeting.

Friday, March 13: Inventing speed; motivation and change

Read Leinhard, Chapters 7 and 8 (pp. 95 - 134).

As you read, consider the following questions:

1. What does Lienhard mean when he says, "Above all else, invention is hedonistic" (119)? How does this relate to his telling of "inventing speed"?
2. How does Chapter 8 address the theme of  "evolution of technology"?
3. What was the most important or surprising thing you learned?
4. What is one question about the reading that you would like to discuss?
5. About how long did you spend on the reading and your response?

• Members of study teams 5 and 6 should post their answers to the above questions in the appropriate forum. As a reminder, reading responses are due by 7:30 the day before the class meeting.

Friday, March 13, 5:30 p.m.: Rough draft 4 due

Submit a short essay (rough draft). Be sure to review the guidelines for essays. As I reminded you when I returned your first rough drafts,

• be sure your essay has an identifiable thesis;
• be sure your essay adequately addresses the prompt you are responding to;
• include formal citations and a list of works cited;
• proofread your essay to ensure that you used the words that you meant to use and there are no missing or extra words that impede legibility.

Respond to one of the following prompts.

• Reflect on a time when you engineered something. Relate your experience to Petroski's claims. [Paraphrase of Team 1's question.]

• "Indeed, failures appear to be inevitable in the wake of prolonged success, which encourages lower margins of safety. Failures in turn lead to greater safety margins, and hence, new periods of success" (Petroski vii). Explain this quotation and its implications for society. [Quotation from Team 3.]

• Petroski argues throughout the text that failure in engineering leads to further progress. Examining the opposite of this, does progress lead to stagnation or even future failure? What do engineers learn from engineering successes? [Team 4]

• Since failure is essential to progress, why do we [or engineers] not openly discuss our failures with others? How can we change our attitudes [to maximize learning] from failures and use [what we learn] in successful design? [Team 5]

• When structures (or other engineered things) fail, how should we go about assigning responsibility? Or should we do so at all?

• Find a recent (last few years) news story concerning some engineering success or failure. How is engineering presented in the article? How does this relate to Petroski's claims?

• The WPA of the 1930's created jobs building public structures. The design of such structures emphasized aesthetics and endurance. With similar programs being proposed today, what design goals for structures should be emphasized? Why? [Paraphrase of Team 3's question.]

• Draw a connection between Petroski's book, Case's lectures, Billington's article, and/or earlier readings from the course.

To submit your essay, please place it in the folder outside my door. Feel free to drop in and chat if I am available and you would like to talk with me about your essay.

Janet Davis (davisjan@cs.grinnell.edu)