In this course, we will explore some of the engineering achievements that occurred in the late ninetieth and early twentieth centuries in the areas of communications, transportation, construction, and power distribution that laid the foundation for our modern technological based society. The historical and technological context of these breakthroughs and their impact on society will be investigated.

The Challenger, Three Mile Island, the Vincennes…all failures of engineered systems with long term societal impact. In this course we look at how it is our nature to design and build things, take risks, and often fail. By examining engineering failures of significant impact, we will consider what went wrong in the context of the accident, how the profession of engineering readjusted its design process, and how society reassessed its use of technology and its role in our daily lives.