What is the difference between an engineer and scientist?

[neutrinosalad]

I received a BS for mechanical engineering.

 

As a self-aware person, I know that my brain is wired for systemizing things and problem solving. I like to thing about things abstractly and talk about ideas, but that is more of a hobby rather than the main show.

 

I know from personal experience and from the people I have met in college and work, I know what the engineering mindset is like.

 

What is the scientific mindset like?

 

In what ways do scientists think differently from engineers?

[ajb]

In what ways do scientists think differently from engineers?

Maybe not so different from what you have said.

 

Scientists tend to want to understand systems because of the challenge of understanding them and how this adds to human knowledge.

 

Engineers tend to want to understand systems because they need to in order to develop applications.

 

I vulgarise somewhat here and often a clear distinction does not exists.

[Strange]

In what ways do scientists think differently from engineers?

 

One (Perhaps simplistic) difference is that engineers tend to take existing knowledge and technology to develop new products - or new technology that can then be used by other engineers. Scientists, on the other hand, tend to develop the new knowledge used by engineering.

 

However, I used to work in test and verification, and that was much closer to a scientific approach: making hypotheses about how a "black box" design works and what could go wrong, writing tests to test that idea (and hopefully "break" the design).

[studiot]

There are many differences and also many similarities. Some are big and significant, some or small and insignificant. But there are no clear cut boundaries as you can always find examples of one aspect in the other.

 

I will just highlight one particular difference.

 

It is quite a different matter to measure, observe and deduce what is already there (as scientists usually do) than start with nothing and place (create) some defined thing or system (as engineers usually do).

 

For example measuring the size, disposition and gravitational pull etc of an existing mountain as opposed to placing one to some specification.

 

However with my comment on no clear boundaries in mind, scientists have done just that when completing the catalogue of elements in the periodic table or the catalogue of elementary particles in particle physics.

[Phi for All]

Ask yourself which is more important, the road map, or it's ability to be folded for storage in a glove box?

[Strange]

Ask yourself which is more important, the road map, or it's ability to be folded for storage in a glove box?

 

I like that. I have no idea what it means, but I'm sure it is very clever.

[Phi for All]

 

I like that. I have no idea what it means, but I'm sure it is very clever.

 

Zen engineering. What is the sound of one hand folding a road map back up?

 

The map has everything a scientist needs to make measurements, but the engineer argues that he wouldn't have it with him if it didn't fold up so compactly. Two perspectives I thought marked a difference between scientists and engineers.

[Strange]

The map has everything a scientist needs to make measurements, but the engineer argues that he wouldn't have it with him if it didn't fold up so compactly. Two perspectives I thought marked a difference between scientists and engineers.

 

Ah so. Even subtler than I thought. I was thinking that the map (in the abstract sense) was the product of science, but engineers turn it into a usable device. Or something.

Zen engineering.

 

Zengineering?

[Danijel Gorupec]

Imo, as other said, the difference is somewhat blurry. The Almighty Economy keeps engineers on somewhat shorter leash than scientists... Scientist are forced to do engineering very often because 'engineering' means 'dealing with limited resources'. Engineers use some scientific methods whenever they are too lazy to learn the theory properly and do the math (sometimes too complex to be used at all), but instead prefer experimenting a little. Sometimes engineers have to deal with a so narrow knowledge field that no scientist was interested to digest it and write a proper paper about.

 

The crucial difference, however, is that engineers are much more handsome man than scientists. It is not possible to provide any scientific reference to this claim because scientist do not want to publish this result!

[studiot]

 

The crucial difference, however, is that engineers are much more handsome man than scientists. It is not possible to provide any scientific reference to this claim because scientist do not want to publish this result!

 

 

 

 

+1

 

[Bill Angel]

Engineers create intellectual property that they patent and can prevent other people from utilizing. A good example is Polaroid preventing Kodak from utilizing Polaroid's work in instant photography to market Kodak's own line of cameras and film. Scientists aim to develop an understanding of how Nature works, an understanding which is shared with and can be utilized by the entire scientific community. A good example is Watson and Crick's elucidation of the structure of DNA.

[studiot]

Engineers create intellectual property that they patent and can prevent other people from utilizing. A good example is Polaroid preventing Kodak from utilizing Polaroid's work in instant photography to market Kodak's own line of cameras and film. Scientists aim to develop an understanding of how Nature works, an understanding which is shared with and can be utilized by the entire scientific community. A good example is Watson and Crick's elucidation of the structure of DNA.

 

This is also a good example of the diffeernce I mentioned.

 

The polaroid system did not exist before it was developed.

 

DNA was 'always' there to be discovered studied and did not need inventing

[neutrinosalad]

The map has everything a scientist needs to make measurements, but the engineer argues that he wouldn't have it with him if it didn't fold up so compactly. Two perspectives I thought marked a difference between scientists and engineers.

 

I like this comparison. Very interesting way to think about it.