The Contribution of History to Engineering Education

Abstract – This paper intends to bring out the experience of introducing a discipline of History of Science and Technology in an Undergraduate Course of Engineering and a proposal of transforming it so as to help future engineers deal with the challenges posed by the present moment of capitalism, usually called globalization. The discipline was lectured at the Department of Nautical Engineering in the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro between 1996 and 1997. The proposal is a product of some reflections that rose out from this experience. 1) Introductory Comments Before we get into the subject of this paper, I would like to make a few comments. It may sound strange to bring reflections from and about a discipline such as History to this Conference on Engineering Education, in a moment when the demands of a global market seem so oppressive to professionals whose job by definition pushes towards permanent competition. The wise attitude in this context, at least in which it concerns the undergraduate education given to future engineers, should point the other way round, in the direction of a more specialized approach to science and technology. Yet, I believe this is not the only possible direction. More than that, I am convinced that this is not necessarily the easiest nor the best way to achieve what we all expect here: prepare our students to deal with the enormous challenges they will have to face after University. If this paper is able to show why I have this opinion, and what exactly I mean by History applied to Engineering Education, then it will have reached its aim. One last comment: it is never useless to note that many professors and scholars in our universities share the same view, and although still isolated in one and another Engineering Departments, they are trying to put these ideas in action. Some of them have helped me with their criticism and suggestions, and I would like to say how much I am grateful to their contribution. 2) History applied to Engineering Education This paper is the result of a short experience on teaching a discipline of History of Science in an undergraduat