ABSTRACT
This brief history surveys engineering from its earliest appearance, in ancient irrigation systems and walled city defenses, through the multiplicity of forms it takes in the contemporary era. It focuses on complex structures and devices requiring management and coordination of resources, planning, and skill, and examines the historical relationship of engineering to power and authority. It traces the rise of the engineering profession, engineering education, and the engineering sciences, and notes a variety of global locations in which engineering has developed and engineering’s relationship to modern states.
