Top 10 Greatest Engineers

One of the greatest is certainly the inventor of the wheel, an unknown....Karl Benz is credited with the invention of the modern automobile, one of the most dramatic uses of the wheel....and I think the collaborative effort of many scientists and engineers and many others, that led to the Moon landing, would have to be near the top....I also would include another collaborative effort, the first nuclear submarine....Paul Schilling is credited with the invention of the first electrical telegraph, a precursor to electronic communication, which has evolved to the internet we all love and cherish today....Though some of these might not be described formally as engineers, they certainly were in the truest sense of the word....as with most innovation, they are usually the next step in a progression of thought whose start is vague and uncertain, and as such, are really just a notable level of accomplishment, of all mankind....

Robert Stephenson deserves to be there somewhere, as does Joseph_Bazalgette.

And it would be simply far too rude to leave out IKB or Robert's father, George.

Someone deserving of a higher profile is Peter Schuyler Bruff. And one needs to consider Thomas Telford as well as Joseph Locke.

Tipping a hat towards the other side of the "pond" - The Wright Brothers, and the other side of the Arctic, their contemporary, Igor Sikorsky.

One must not forget the individual that started it all, though.

The list contains several typographical errors. These persons are more typically thought of as inventors, which may not have the same connotation as engineers.

I would nominate Gustave Eiffel and G.W. Goethals, for instance.

My thought also. Many of the greatest developments and inventions in history were by ordinary men (and women). They were not engineers. I don't believe the Wright Brothers were engineers, just bicycle mechanics.

Dear Mr.ronseto,

About 4 months back, I read that the first plane/flight was not made by Wright Brothers, and it was done by somebody else - that somebody is named as UN-SUNG HERO.

DHAYANANDHAN.S

Gustave Whitehead is now recognized by "Jane's All the World's Aircraft" to have built and flown the first airplane. His airplane design was not as controllable or elegant as the Wright flyer but it did fly none the less several years before. This long belated recognition of Whitehead's achievement should not diminish at all the engineering impact the Wright brothers work had on aviation. Their understanding of three axis control techniques combined with Glenn Curtiss' simpler trailing edge controls of an aileron is how planes fly today. Had the Wright brothers patent war never happened then Whitehead's earlier work may not have been obscured for over a century.

Agreed some inventors-

Marketing Engineers: Alexander the Great to KyChickenFryer: Mr. Sanders

Hans Ernst

1964 Who's who, America

told by others- over 100 working patents; called Engineer, Professor Emeritus, inventor-

ASME speaker on material removal as a fluid dynamic, not an axe through wood chipping-

Feed and Speed wheel calculator application; Simcool cutting fluids (removed by chemical concerns, but fluid studies with machining process)

Centerless grinder; balancing techniques in machining; Flow Matic bearing-surfaces;

Spiro-Point drill; Hydraulic valve for return without need of a spring; Hydraulic motors;

and always mentioned with his team is the fantastic Gene Merchant who is listed with Prof. Ernst in websters's : orthogonal cutting

Not seen on the market: patented Cain Rest ; from leg injury leading to pressurized O2 1960- local Hyperberic Oxygenation - to keep his anarobic leg bone disease in check

German born in Austrailia, test rider for Dunlop Tire; to Cinti Milling Machine- Milicron:::

2 year Melbourne Institute Degree. Re-Instated U of Cinti Professional Practice Co-Ops student/work program. Writer of Astronomy articles and "Lesson's From Life: God-Inspired Destiny" he wrote in his three booklets on living.

I'd put John Harrison somewhere near the top. He invented the marine chronometer which allowed ships to navigate the globe in all kinds of weather.

Glad to see Philo Farnsworth on the list. For too long the credit for inventing television went to the people who came after him.

Farnsworth was a brilliant guy, but he didn't invent television, he improved it. Just like Steven Sasson didn't invest photography. BTW - Just like to mention Farnsworth's nuclear contribution, often overlooked.

He invented and developed the system that became the world standard. Previous 'tv systems' were quite different.

From Wikipedia, he developed "the first fully functional all-electronic image pickup device (video camera tube), the "image dissector", the first fully functional and complete all-electronic television system, and for being the first person to demonstrate such a system to the public. Farnsworth developed a television system complete with receiver and camera, which he produced commercially in the firm of the Farnsworth Television and Radio Corporation."

(my emphasis)

"He invented and developed the system that became the world standard. Previous 'tv systems' were quite different."

Absolutely. But previous TV systems, though inferior, still worked; were still television. And better systems to come will still be television. Previous systems to Farnsworth's worked quite well too. The first transatlantic live broadcast was done under the Baird system, for example, as were the first public television transmissions. Farnsworth system was a massive game-changing improvement to television, but others came before him with fully working TV systems. Today there are much better airframe systems than the Wright Brothers' airframe. But for me, the Wright brothers invented powered flight, not those who came later with better systems.

It's the precision-ista in me can't help it....

It's the "simple" stuff...you know?

Though some were just mere inventors of great basics, Wikipedia lists them among the engineering crowd.

I vote for Antoni Gaudi, the great Spanish architect. He built the La Sagrada Familia cathedral in Barcelona, based on intertwined hyperboloid vaults, which had never been tried before. Long before computers and software, he built a string model of the cathedral (the model is on display in the basement, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Maqueta_funicular.jpg) to determine strength of the arches. The only engineering T shirt I ever bought was a Gaudi shirt.

Whitney did not develop the interchangeable parts concept. That was developed by a series of people who had already created firearms with interchangeable parts.

Take a look at the American Precision Museum http://www.americanprecision.org/

I will second that. Tesla.

John Moses Browning. He designed and engineered some of the most successful firearms ever developed, many of which are still manufactured and used today. In addition, many others have developed their own designs based upon his ideas.

TESLA...TESLA...TESLA..

While I agree with Brunel, I believe Thomas Telford deserves a spot on the list. He led Brunel on suspension bridges, they both were innovators, Telford built many canals and was in charge of Portsmouth Docks.

Chief Engineer for the Northern Railroad and the Panama Canal...no small feats!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Frank_Stevens

Abraham Louis Breguet. Most here probably never heard of him, but in his day, he designed and built the finest watches in the world. Back in the late 1700's, it was difficult enough to get a watch to do the job intended; to keep time. Breguet not only improved the accuracy of a watch (pocket watch at that time), but also added complexities, known as complications.

If you have a chance, look up Breguet and his innovations.

FWIW "first" means first to be successful, not necessarily the first to patent or publically announce their success.

I would like to nominate for this honour... the unknown engineers who designed the systems and methods that allowed the great pyramids of ancient Egypt to be built. Can you imagine the effort involved? Staggering...

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Archimedes .
(if anyone says 'Screw him' I'll be round there to give 'em a slap.)
And what about the person who invented the bow and arrow?
Del

Is it just me, or do all those links fail ?

Only noticed while checking one of them - Linnaeus an Engineer ? Scientist methinks. OK, I'm being a bit petty. He fits the Blog, but not this specific entry.

Well worded. He's cropped up on CR4 before. I'd thought of mentioning him, but there is much debate over how much he devised himself and how much he just described. Either way, he's worthy of mention. 'theatrical' is a great description, but I guess he engineered stuff for the times he lived in.

Ha ha..

I think he knew where the money was. Helping the priests fleece the worshipper's and taking a cut of the money. I'd say he was probably as much entrepreneur as engineer.

Hooker

<splarf>

I'd love to know if he did invent the slot machine, but even with that knowledge I'm not sure he qualifies for the list. Handing around a plate is 'engineering' something. Off the top of my head, I think one of his gadgets dispensed wine. Not beer, but that's close enough to qualify him as an engineer. Some money-minded accountant of the day probablly suggested the coin part of it .

I'm not sure how much of a great engineer Steinmetz was, but this little episode helps justify the sometimes outrageous fees we can charge for our services:

Steinmetz spent most of his later career working for the General Electric Company in Schenectady, New York. In 1902, Steinmetz retired to take a teaching position at Schenectady's Union College. General Electric later called on Steinmetz to return as a consultant by Henry Ford, after a very complex system broke and the General Electric technicians failed to fix it. Steinmetz agreed to return for the consulting work. He examined the broken system, found the malfunctioning part, and marked it with a piece of chalk. Charles Steinmetz submitted a bill to General Electric for $10,000. Henry Ford was miffed at the bill and asked for an itemized invoice.

Steinmetz sent back the following invoice:

1. Making chalk mark $1
2. Knowing where to place it $9,999

Words to live by, gang. What's easy for us is a mystery to others. (I ain't no engineer no more, but I wuz once. Now I just write marketing stuff. But that ain't easy for other people, like my clients.)

I am surprised that no one has mentioned... Tim Berners-Lee.

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