Engineer

Engineer

It`s great profession. There is fascination of watching a figment of the imagination emerge through the aid of science to a plan on paper. Then it moves to realization in stone or metal or energy. Next it brings jobs and homes to men. It elevates the standards of living and add to comforts of life. This is engineer`s high privilege. The great liability of the engineer compare to other professions is that his/her works are out in the open where all can see them. His/her acts, step by step, are in hard substance. He/she cannot bury his/her mistakes in the grave like the doctor. He/she cannot argue them into thin air or blame the judge like lawyers. He/she cannot, like the architects, cover his/her failure with tree and vines. He/she cannot like politician, screen his shortcomings by blaming his opponents and hope people will forget. The engineer simply cannot deny that he/she did it. If his/she works do not work, he/she will is damned forever.¹

Herbert Hoover, The Memories of Herbert Hoover: Years of Adventure, 1874-1920 (MacMillan, New York, 1951), pp. 132-133