You need physics to do engineering; or I suppose you could say that doing engineering is doing physics, but with a practical goal.
I would say it is a misconception that engineers are applied scientists. It varies from person to person, but in general, an engineer is expected to apply aesthetic, ethical, legal and economic reasoning (among other types) to any given problem. Indeed many engineers do much more of those than they do applied science. My job is about 15% applied science, by time & importance.
Of course, engineering relying on science at all is a very recent thing. Throughout most of human history, engineering knowledge were mostly family trade secrets developed through trial and error which didn’t depend at all on the theories spun out by the intellectuals of the time. For instance, Egypt’s pyramid builders had basically no use for theoretical science that we know of.
Nice article Julia!
I would say it is a misconception that engineers are applied scientists. It varies from person to person, but in general, an engineer is expected to apply aesthetic, ethical, legal and economic reasoning (among other types) to any given problem. Indeed many engineers do much more of those than they do applied science. My job is about 15% applied science, by time & importance.
Of course, engineering relying on science at all is a very recent thing. Throughout most of human history, engineering knowledge were mostly family trade secrets developed through trial and error which didn’t depend at all on the theories spun out by the intellectuals of the time. For instance, Egypt’s pyramid builders had basically no use for theoretical science that we know of.