Applied Minds

May 18, 2015
Biomedical engineer Madhavan (Practicing Sustainability) sets out to “reverse-engineer the engineering mind-set” to show lay readers the versatility of engineering techniques in everyday life. He considers different engineers or individuals who have solved engineering problems as exemplars of aspects of this mind-set, such as modular systems thinking or working on functional prototyping. His wide-ranging examples include Jean-Baptiste Vaquette de Gribeauval’s redesign of French cannons and Alfred Hitchcock’s approach to filmmaking, and demonstrate that engineering methods can be applied to every walk of life. While Madhavan does use some jargon, his problem-solving vignettes are accessible to non-engineers, particularly as he uses examples of familiar problems or inventions such as traffic congestion, sewage treatment, or the coordination of GPS and 911 services. Madhavan’s work will help readers move from the common understanding of engineering as a set of technical skills for building objects to the realization that engineering is a way of looking at and solving problems, and is not limited to situations involving science and math.

June 1, 2015

This latest book by Madhavan (editor, Practicing Sustainability), biomedical engineer at the National Academy of Sciences, can proudly takes its place alongside other esteemed works on engineering such as Samuel C. Florman's The Existential Pleasures of Engineering and Henry Petroski's Pushing the Limits. Written in a clear, conversational style that doesn't compromise the explanations of how engineers solve problems, it is enhanced by stories of innovators that illustrate principles such as standardization, optimization, and prototyping. Many of the accounts relate inventions now taken for granted, including the self-service grocery store with organized aisles and front checkout stations pioneered by Clarence Saunders at his Piggly Wiggly stores and Margaret Hutchinson's process borrowed from breweries that allowed Pfizer to first mass produce penicillin. A theme throughout is the systems-thinking approach successful engineers take in using their minds as "inference engines." Madhavan also reveals much about his life and career in telling the story of generations of engineers working to clean up India's Ganges river. VERDICT A delightful book that will appeal to readers interested in human innovations. Expect to be convinced by the author's thesis that an engineering mind set can be helpful to anyone.--Sara R. Tompson, Jet Propulsion Laboratory Lib., Archives & Records Section, Pasadena, CA

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