CIVILIZATION AND ENGINEERING
Civilization is slow and boring. But it is one of the most indispensable parts of
society. Engineering helps in sustaining civilization itself. The backbone of civilization, our
infrastructure, the magnificent buildings, mansions, theme-parks, factories, freeways, high-speed
railways, tunnels that bore through mountains to make routes shorter, bridges that span large
valleys and rivers, Dams that provide water and electricity, everything owes its existing to this
wonderful science, Engineering.
"Civilization" refers to the culture of a complex society, not just the society itself. Every
society, civilization or not, has a specific set of ideas and customs, and a certain set of
manufactures and arts that make it unique. Civilizations tend to develop intricate cultures,
including literature, professional art, architecture, organized religion, and complex customs
associated with the elite.
The intricate culture associated with civilization has a tendency to spread to and influence
other cultures, sometimes assimilating them into the civilization (a classic example being
Chinese civilization and its influence on nearby civilizations such as Korea, Japan and Vietnam).
Many civilizations are actually large cultural spheres containing many nations and regions. The
civilization in which someone lives is that person's broadest cultural identity.
The eternity of civilizations is measured by the amount of the everlasting contributions
they offer to the history of humanity in various aspects of thought, sciences, and morals. As we
learned about the great role Islamic civilization played in the history of human development, we
can identify these contributions through what Europe or the European renaissance and
civilization has achieved. This is because the accomplishments of European civilization have
been influenced by Islamic civilization which preceded it. Without exaggeration, the modern
European history is the natural extension of the history of Islamic civilization when it was
flourishing. There was no separation between them.
The progress of a civilization is often measured by how far and how advanced in
agriculture, long-distance trade, occupational specialization, a special governing class and
urbanism did this culture achieve. Aside from these core elements, a civilization is often marked
by any combination of a number of secondary elements, including a developed transportation
system, writing, standardized measurement, currency, contractual and (tort-based) legal systems,
characteristic art and architecture, mathematics, enhanced scientific understanding, metallurgy,
political structures, and an astronomical understanding.
Looking at the ancient Egyptian culture, we will find that they have achieved a high level
of advancements in civilization. Also it lasted for thousands of years and has made a great
impact on the whole world’s history. It has got today’s scientists wondering how they achieved
this advancement while being so limited back in the days. The answer was engineering. Ancient
Egyptians has developed engineering and the science over 5,000 years ago. So Unlike the
Greeks, who later benefited from the advances of Egyptian scholars and who developed an
abstract theory of knowledge, the Egyptians used knowledge for the practical accomplishment
of goals tied to their religious worldview. Religion drove Egyptians to the development of their
monumental architecture. These architectural wonders served as a societal organizing principle
and demonstrated the power of the state, which was believed to be run by either an incarnate god
on earth or the son of a heavenly god. In addition, the supporting sciences, such as mathematics,
astronomy, geography, and medicine all had practical purposes in support of the Egyptian
religious worldview. Also the geological and archaeological history of ancient Egypt, even in
Stone Age times, showed how favorable conditions for farming and settlement allowed the
ancients to change their way of life, and in the process, they gradually became different from
their ancestors and the nearby nomadic tribes. We also find that the most accomplished
practitioners of engineering and science were accorded high status. Finally, we can observe how
ancient Egyptian engineering and science, and the storehouse of knowledge in Alexandria,
formed a foundation for world’s scientists. Also for example, the building of the Great
Pyramid at Giza greatest structure the world has seen shows how advanced were Egyptian
engineering and how far did they achieve.
Engineers must exhibit a fruitful interaction with the environment through invention, and
have the experience of a ‘feedback relationship’ between environment, biological evolution, and
cultural change. So preparing engineers and making them achieve a certain level that will enable
them to be handier, more skillful, and better able to think and to act by thought leading to
developing their culture and making it more effective to the world.