私たちの日常全般に係わる工学の歩みを、アルキメデスをはじめ歴史上の偉人たちの貢献にも触れながら繙きます。工学の本質や守備範囲、周辺領域との関係性を探り、機能や性能の追求だけでなく社会における役割や課題にも目を向けます。極論すると、工学は私たちのあり方そのものに密接にかかわるものであることを指摘します。
   

• Examines the role and identity of engineering in comparison with science, technology, art, and craft
• Defines the five ages of engineering - gravity, heat, electromagnetism, information, and systems - in order to show how the specialisms relate to one another
• Uses examples of everyday 'tools', such as a mobile telephone, to describe how engineering actually works
• Explores the historical development of engineering as a discipline

  
Engineering is part of almost everything we do - from the water we drink and the food we eat, to the buildings we live in and the roads and railways we travel on. In this Very Short Introduction, David Blockley explores the nature and practice of engineering, its history, its scope, and its relationship with art, craft, science, and technology. He considers the role of engineering in the modern world, demonstrating its need to provide both practical and socially acceptable solutions, and explores how engineers use natural phenomena to embrace human needs. 

From its early roots starting with Archimedes to some of the great figures of engineering such as Brunel and Marconi, right up to the modern day, he also looks at some of its challenges - when things go wrong - such as at Chernobyl. Ultimately, he shows how engineering is intimately part of who and what we are.