Dr. Lina,
I give one example for what I said, at least for Egypt, the Arab world countries, and the third world in general.
Irrigation / drainage / surface water groundwater engineers have simple closed-form equations for almost everything.
They learned these closed-form equations in class. In the class room at the university one teaches them these equations as if these equations were some sort of SORATS of QURAN not merely as approximations of nothing more than few rigid situations that may not be applicable to other situations without taking other boundary conditions (and other initial conditions) into consideration for the natural reservoir under assumed steady state and / or the more realistic transient state, for the open systems and the closed systems and / or the more realistic semi-confined aquifers (that may be functioning in some places as confined aquifers).
One teaches them something about water salinity, but nothing about water / rock reaction or about pollution risks, nothing about stable isotopes in G.W., nothing about radioactive isotopes in G.W.
They learn something about water mass balance but nothing about solute mass balance or geochemistry.
One learns them something about GW pumping but nothing about the nature of different aquifers or their relationship to irrigated soils or to agrochemicals applied to the cultivated fields.
One learns them how to construct a tile drainage system, but not how to maintain it. One learns them how to use Manning equations for water flow in open canals and open drainage ditches but nothing about the fate of water applied into the regional setup or the behavior of the shallow phreatic water table below soil surface.
Many other examples may be cited.
One learns them Newton laws of motion but nobody tells them these are special cases of Einstein equation.
One learns them Carnot cycle but gives no room for any possible improvement of Carnot formulas.
On learns them Bernoulli equations without saying these are expression of the conservation of energy. One leans them the continuity equation without saying it is an expression of mass conservation.
They get the wrong message about science.
They say (we learn engineering, we do not need science).
They graduate with a solid believe that they do not need science, they do not need to work with geologists, they do not need to work with environmental scientists but they only need to work with other engineers.
They need their simple closed-form equations but not any real research lab.
They learn in a way that is standing against the very bases of the scientific method to claim that engineers do not need any more science but only need what they learned in class as if it were the QURAN text.
They got poor engineering education to reclaim themselves as replacement of the natural science workers.
The engineers hate the natural science workers.
This stands as if you learn some one to import a ready made car and never tell him how to build his own car from scratch.
This poor education of engineering and technology stands against the advance of science in their own countries.
If ALL of us adopt the simplistic way of the engineers we will never see a scientist in physics, chemistry, biology or medicine get any Noble Prize.
That is what I would have liked to say.
Education of engineering must change in order to admit that science advancement goes through other lines than those adopted by the great majority of engineers, and in order to get new engineers who admit that there is something in the world known as natural sciences and scientific research (the real one, not the false one).
Thanks.
Cheers
I give one example for what I said, at least for Egypt, the Arab world countries, and the third world in general.
Irrigation / drainage / surface water groundwater engineers have simple closed-form equations for almost everything.
They learned these closed-form equations in class. In the class room at the university one teaches them these equations as if these equations were some sort of SORATS of QURAN not merely as approximations of nothing more than few rigid situations that may not be applicable to other situations without taking other boundary conditions (and other initial conditions) into consideration for the natural reservoir under assumed steady state and / or the more realistic transient state, for the open systems and the closed systems and / or the more realistic semi-confined aquifers (that may be functioning in some places as confined aquifers).
One teaches them something about water salinity, but nothing about water / rock reaction or about pollution risks, nothing about stable isotopes in G.W., nothing about radioactive isotopes in G.W.
They learn something about water mass balance but nothing about solute mass balance or geochemistry.
One learns them something about GW pumping but nothing about the nature of different aquifers or their relationship to irrigated soils or to agrochemicals applied to the cultivated fields.
One learns them how to construct a tile drainage system, but not how to maintain it. One learns them how to use Manning equations for water flow in open canals and open drainage ditches but nothing about the fate of water applied into the regional setup or the behavior of the shallow phreatic water table below soil surface.
Many other examples may be cited.
One learns them Newton laws of motion but nobody tells them these are special cases of Einstein equation.
One learns them Carnot cycle but gives no room for any possible improvement of Carnot formulas.
On learns them Bernoulli equations without saying these are expression of the conservation of energy. One leans them the continuity equation without saying it is an expression of mass conservation.
They get the wrong message about science.
They say (we learn engineering, we do not need science).
They graduate with a solid believe that they do not need science, they do not need to work with geologists, they do not need to work with environmental scientists but they only need to work with other engineers.
They need their simple closed-form equations but not any real research lab.
They learn in a way that is standing against the very bases of the scientific method to claim that engineers do not need any more science but only need what they learned in class as if it were the QURAN text.
They got poor engineering education to reclaim themselves as replacement of the natural science workers.
The engineers hate the natural science workers.
This stands as if you learn some one to import a ready made car and never tell him how to build his own car from scratch.
This poor education of engineering and technology stands against the advance of science in their own countries.
If ALL of us adopt the simplistic way of the engineers we will never see a scientist in physics, chemistry, biology or medicine get any Noble Prize.
That is what I would have liked to say.
Education of engineering must change in order to admit that science advancement goes through other lines than those adopted by the great majority of engineers, and in order to get new engineers who admit that there is something in the world known as natural sciences and scientific research (the real one, not the false one).
Thanks.
Cheers
