We have become a people unable to comprehend the technology we invent.
—Association of American Colleges, 1985
***
Engineering without imagination sinks to a trade.
—Herbert Hoover, 1952
Necessity is the mother of invention.
—English proverb
28
Invention is the mother of necessity.
—Thorstein Veblen, 1914
You are too late with a development if […] people demand it before you yourself recognize
it.
—Charles F. Kettering, 1934
We cannot predict the future, but futures can be invented.
—Dennis Garbor, 1963
29
***
To invent, you need a good imagination and a pile of junk.
—Thomas Edison
30
An inventor is a poet—a true poet.
—Mark Twain, 1870
Engineering, like poetry, is an attempt to approach perfection. And engineers, like poets,
are seldom completely satisfied with their creations.
—Henry Petroski, 1955
Life cycle of a typical [project]: unwarranted enthusiasm, uncritical acceptance, growing
concern, unmitigated disaster, search for the guilty, punishment of the innocent, and promotion of the uninvolved.
31
—Ephraim R. McLean, 1972
Engineers like to solve problems. If there are no problems handy, they create their own
problems.
—Anonymous
***
28
Possibly based on Plato’s line, “Our need will be the real creator”.
29
A popular later paraphrase of this maxim is: “The best way to predict the future is to invent it”.
30
As quoted, without a date, by Ronald C. Arkin in 1998.
31
Originally describing “a typical electronic data processing system”, this semi-joke, frequently in
a modified form, is now commonly used to describe the virtually inevitable stages of any
large-scale development project.
38
On Science and Technology
—Association of American Colleges, 1985
***
Engineering without imagination sinks to a trade.
—Herbert Hoover, 1952
Necessity is the mother of invention.
—English proverb
28
Invention is the mother of necessity.
—Thorstein Veblen, 1914
You are too late with a development if […] people demand it before you yourself recognize
it.
—Charles F. Kettering, 1934
We cannot predict the future, but futures can be invented.
—Dennis Garbor, 1963
29
***
To invent, you need a good imagination and a pile of junk.
—Thomas Edison
30
An inventor is a poet—a true poet.
—Mark Twain, 1870
Engineering, like poetry, is an attempt to approach perfection. And engineers, like poets,
are seldom completely satisfied with their creations.
—Henry Petroski, 1955
Life cycle of a typical [project]: unwarranted enthusiasm, uncritical acceptance, growing
concern, unmitigated disaster, search for the guilty, punishment of the innocent, and promotion of the uninvolved.
31
—Ephraim R. McLean, 1972
Engineers like to solve problems. If there are no problems handy, they create their own
problems.
—Anonymous
***
28
Possibly based on Plato’s line, “Our need will be the real creator”.
29
A popular later paraphrase of this maxim is: “The best way to predict the future is to invent it”.
30
As quoted, without a date, by Ronald C. Arkin in 1998.
31
Originally describing “a typical electronic data processing system”, this semi-joke, frequently in
a modified form, is now commonly used to describe the virtually inevitable stages of any
large-scale development project.
38
On Science and Technology