Engineering In The 1800's

During the early to mid 1800’s, education was not a key factor in the ways the engineers did their work. Most of the ways that engineers became engineers was through apprenticeships and hand-on work experience. Schooling was not a big factor in training the engineers before they built things. But this wasn’t a problem, because without higher education, there were still ways that engineers managed to build things without extra knowledge in engineering, math, or physics. When schooling did become a key role to make engineers who they are today, engineering schools were created that specialized in math and sciences to ensure that the new era of engineers knew skills of their trade, and could master their assignments in their jobs instead of having

But water and wind were also ways to create energy along with the use of steam from wood, coal, and oil. This helps to build up to the division of labor which allowed for speed and accuracy in the machines being build. Along with steam engines came the sewer system and roadway dilemmas. Chesbrough, who learned hydraulic engineering, was the key component of the sanitation system. But “the education and experience which Chesbrough utilized in freeing Chicago from its topographical liabilities and in implementing an effective sanitation system grew out of his first-hand experience with many of the country’s internal improvements” (Louis P. Cain). This first-hand experience came from apprenticeships and not formal educations. This shows that formal education was not a potential handicap for engineers during this period because of the achievements that Chesbrough made without

This led to competition for engineering jobs that were no longer allowed for civilians, but were now offered to skilled and talented students that had mastered their course work. This mastery of course work played a key role in the engineering profession because it was no longer about being known as a good engineer. Instead, the engineers had to work harder to be more accurate and get noticed for their work. This made many on the calculations accurate and allowed for society to advance in technology due to the new education that engineers had to apply to real world problems. Some of these problems were of building a bridge or cars, to even just drawing up plans for future engineering