PraiseENG - A Praise Of The Engineer

To Luciano De Crescenzo,

writer and engineer,

for fortifying in me

the extraordinary alchemy

of literature and engineering,

of mythology and science.

Dionigi Cristian Lentini

PraiseENG

A praise of the Engineer

Original Version (Italian): PraisING – Elogio dell’Ingegnere (2018) - ISBN: 9788824924238 – 9781729061961

Translated by: Giovanni Frosio

Editor: Tektime

Scientists dream about doing great things. Engineers do them.

(James Michener)

It is told that Pallas Athena, the goddess of wisdom and beloved daughter of Zeus,

was gifted by her father the clay of Apollon and Dionysus,

the same ones with which men were created,

and on a summer day, in her generous inspiration,

she kneaded out of them a fistful of science and one of technique:

thus was born ingenium, the Latin word from which derive “ingenuity”,

“engineer”, “engine”, “ingénieur”, “ingegno”, “ingegnere “, “ingegneria”, etc.

Since then man has wondered about being, becoming,

the immanent and the transcendent,

he has looked into the tenth of millionth of billionth of centimeter

of the proton’s structure

as well as into the thousands of trillions of kilometers

of the most remote galaxies in the universe;

he has computed the infinitesimal fraction of a second

as well as the lifespan of stars;

he has travelled in many space and time contexts,

leaving behind him a trail of destruction, wars and death,

but also of achievements, hopes and life;

he has crossed the centuries as the undisputed protagonist of History

overbearingly showing his greatest strength in his thoughts,

his most lethal weapon, the feature which sets him apart from any other living creature;

but it’s in the subsequent step, of translating thought in innovations

by means of a project,

that he made possible the progress of his kind,

making engineering the natural field of convergence

of science, mathematics and technology.

Engineering is not a mere theoretical speculation

but it’s a primary conquest of mankind that, thanks to it,

starting from an analysis or a requirement, a need,

in the realization of physical, social, political and economic constraints,

has been able to provide methodological and design solutions

to supply, control, develop and manage well a material or immaterial commodity,

whether it is a product, a system, a service, a process, an organization.