Greatness thrust upon them

Abstract

In the thirty years since I first entered engineering, I have seen our profession confronted with wholly unexpected responsibilities because of our command of a technology which developed with wholly unexpected speed. In words that Shakespeare first made famous, engineers have had “greatness thrust upon them.”

In many ways, the engineers have responded nobly to the challenges. All about us are the magnificent creations of engineering. The need for our services has caused our numbers to multiply into the hundreds of thousands. It would seem logical that if our profession is at the height of its powers, it should also be at the peak of its glory.