Can You Distinguish Between Science and Engineering?

I think that science is the systematic study of basic physical phenonmenon - analogous to how things work, why they work, what causes this and that, etc.

Engineering is the application of science - once you know how things work, then you can determine how to make it work for you, or how to apply it to do something useful (not to imply that science is not useful - it's the basis for engineering).

Science = knowledge, Engineering = wisdom

Me thinks of Leonardo da Vinci as an engineer - he came up with extremely ingenius inventions - but maybe lacked the basic knowledge afforded by science to make it work: Like his "Winged Flying Machine". If he had understood the science of flight (high velocity, low pressure), would he have had the same design?

Albert Einstein is a great scientist - all those explainations to how the world/universe works, but no concrete use until engineers came along and applied his theories.

As a designer - I think I have to do have to know the science behind something I'm building, making sure that I am working on an engineering problem/solution (which can yield revenues in the short term), rather than a scientific problem/solution (which has a longer return on investment).

I dont thnk there is distinctly different.

Tech mostly is practice, and science is sum of theory. they are one mixer. neither of them could be seperated.

I design a circuit, i use ohm law, this is a part of science, I weld parts carefully, beautifully, adjust them to prevent from interference each other, is tech.

sometimes, we have tech, but science cannt explain it, some times, we have science, but we cannt carry it out by our tech.

this make us work, studey and search continuiously.

Basically, scientists theorize far out ideas that, sometimes, are proven to be accurate by engineers, who are basically mechanical minded, & can construct a machine that works- an inventer has to be scientist, engineer, critic, & marketer!.

Some people say that engineering is where you know what you're doing, science is where you don't...

Let me be the first who doesn't fall for this one.

Is there a difference? Sometimes or often times.

Can they be distinquished? No.

Engineering is the industrial development and application resulted from knowledge, acquired by scientific theory and research;

You may alternatively say that engineering is the practical application of scientific discovery.

after reading all the replies, let me summerize; science is discovery and engineering is the application of discovery. Science is the explorer and engineering is the homesteader.

Science - find out why and how thing works.

Engineering - Apply result from Science to make live better.

Scientist - Don't know what their finding could be used for just want to find out how thing works.

Engineer - Don't care how it works just want to find a way to use it.

Hence Engineering is part of Applied Science.

Pineapple

- The Scientist knows an awful lot, about very few subjects

- The Engineer knows very little, about an awful lot of subjects

- Their Project Manager knows very little about very few subjects

- The secretary knows everything

(The Soviet Knowledge Triangle)

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

1. Those who know - Do.

2. Those who doesn't know how to do - Teach.

3. Those who doesn't know how to do or how to teach - Manage.

(Peter's Principle)

hehehe, and a principle (designer or engineer) tells all where to go (to find the answer). Actually, it is assumed the principle is a know-it-all but, actually, all he knows is where the answers are hidden in the library.

Were you educated in Russia? My major was physics/chemistry double major but because my Korean War GI Bill ran out before I finished my senior year, I had to go to work in engineering. However, I do not regret one little bit of my eduction, it did stand me very well in my career. I still go to http://ocw.mit.edu/index.html to continue my education and I retired on April 1, 1998, April Fools Day, the significants of which alludes me.

I was not educated in Russia, but in Israel and The Netherlands.

Not that the Russian education system is worse in any aspect!

On the other hand, Israel has nearly as many Russian immigrants as New York, so....

An easy way to identify the two concepts is understanding that engineering looks for solutions by using science.

SaC.

If science is the evolutionary study of our existence, through trial and error...

And if engineering is convincing people to believe in evolution and change,

without fear or regret...

and we assume Universal Singularity = "All things long to be one".

Then: When your answer is Good Orderly Direction, there will be no question.

They are one.

-Even Edison was afraid of x-ray, after it effected his vision.

Good heavens, the answer is far simpler than the others replying to this thread would have you believe.

Scientist, sit on thier duff dreaming up all kinds of impossible or impractical solutions to problems that do not exist.

Enginers work for a living and are required to solve real world problems, get dirty and produce solutions that actually work.

OTOH the engineer is employed to make the impossible possible and the impractical practical. Without the geeky scientist the engineer would have to take on the role and we'd wind up with impossible and/or impractical solutions to problems that did not exist.

Well

Engineering uses science to achieve practical solution to such problems. Engineers need scientist and without them we all have to go to the laboratory for they do all the lab work and we simply apply it.

Cheers

oscar UG

Second part of the question:

It's those dam Architects! They effect my work and how I am perceived!

I use mills and they relentlessly use tenths!

Their scale is flawed, from inception, and they are afraid to change...

Break out the x-ray machine, please...

The metric system is used by scientist throughout the world, by engineers in all parts of the world but the USA. It seems that USA's general public is too lazy or too dumb to go metric.