Summary
We are all familiar with the scientific method: observe, theorize, experiment, and repeat. This algorithm is humanity’s most effective tool for understanding the universe. However, Bill Hammack introduces readers to what he calls the “engineering method.” While it’s commonly believed that scientists create knowledge and engineers apply it, Hammack argues that this perspective greatly underestimates the engineer’s role in discovery. He asserts that engineers must be the ultimate pragmatists, unable to wait for perfect knowledge. Instead, they often operate by “rules of thumb” that push the boundaries of what is known. Hammack illustrates this through various examples, from the thickness of cathedral supports to the invention of the O-ring. Unlike scientists, engineers are constrained by cultural contexts, limited resources, and, most critically, the need to deliver solutions within time constraints. A compelling example is the ‘100-year wind’ concept, where engineers must design structures, such as skyscrapers, to withstand rare but severe events predicted to occur within the next century. The challenge is that we often lack a century’s worth of wind data for an area, forcing engineers to rely on modern “rules of thumb,” involving complex, yet pragmatic, statistical predictions based on limited or incomplete data. The crux of Hammack’s argument is that while a mathematician might balk at the imprecision of these methods, engineers must proceed not in a world of perfect knowledge, but in one driven by experiential understanding. Often, the only way to answer a question is to build the answer.
Thoughts
There exists a fundamental debate in philosophy between scientific realists, who believe that science describes the universe as it truly is, and scientific instrumentalists, who are agnostic about the relationship between scientific knowledge and “True knowledge,” focusing instead on the utility that scientific knowledge provides. Bill Hammack clearly aligns with the instrumentalists, as do most of us, whether we realize it or not. While we can endlessly debate the foundations of knowledge, the reality is that we rely on a world built from our limited perspectives and knowledge to navigate life. Hammack’s work underscores this pragmatic reliance, reminding us that the things we make are often the best answers we have in a world of imperfect information.