Engineering quotes

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Isaac_Asimov

Engineering

“Science can amuse and fascinate us all, but it is engineering that changes the world.”
  • Source: Isaac Asimov, chapter epigraph in Isaac Asimov’s Book of Science and Nature Quotations, edited by Isaac Asimov and Jason A. Shulman, published in 1988 by Weidenfeld and Nicolson, New York. Chapter 22, page 78. ISBN 1-555-84111-2.
Keywords: Science_quotes Amuse_quotes Fascinate_quotes Engineering_quotes Change_quotes World_quotes

Friedrich_Ludwig_Bauer

Need for Software Engineering

“What we need is Software Engineering.”
  • Source: Friedrich Ludwig Bauer's words at the end of 1967 within the NATO Science Committee charged with assessing the entire field of Computer Science. First generally recorded use of the term software engineering. Bauer also used the term in 1968 in a NATO conference in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany. Reported on page 119 of the book entitled Origins and Foundations of Computing. Written by Friedrich Ludwig Bauer. Published by Springer in 2010. New York, NY. ISBN: 9783642425639.
Keywords: Software_Engineering_quotes Need_quotes Software_quotes Engineering_quotes

Tinkering versus Engineering

“The time has arrived to switch from home-made software to manufactured software, from tinkering to engineering.”
  • Source: Quoted in the book entitled Mechanizing Proof: Computing, Risk, and Trust by Donald Mackenzie. Published in 2001 by Massachusetts Institute of Technology. ISBN: 0262133938.
Keyword: Software_Engineering_quotes Programming_quotes Time_quotes Arrive_quotes Switch_quotes Home_quotes Make_quotes Software_quotes Manufacture_quotes Tinker_quotes Engineering_quotes

Software Engineering Too Difficult

“Software engineering is the part of computer science which is too difficult for the computer scientist.”
  • Source: [Bauer; 1972]. A paper entitled Software Engineering. Written by Friedrich Ludwig Bauer. Published 1972 in Information Processing 71: Proceedings of Ifip Congress 1971, volume 1. ISBN: 9780720420630.
Keywords: Software_Engineering_quotes Programming_quotes Software_quotes Engineering_quotes Part_quotes Computer_Science_quotes Computing_quotes Science_quotes Difficulty_quotes Scientist_quotes

Software Engineering Definition

“(Software engineering is the) establishment and use of sound engineering principles to obtain economically software that is reliable and works on real machines efficiently.”
  • Source: [Bauer; 1972]. A paper entitled Software Engineering. Written by Friedrich Ludwig Bauer. Published 1972 in Information Processing 71: Proceedings of Ifip Congress 1971, volume 1. ISBN: 9780720420630.
Keywords: Software_Engineering_quotes Cost_quotes Reliability_quotes Efficiency_quotes Software_quotes Engineering_quotes Establish_quotes Use_quotes Sound_quotes Principle_quotes Obtain_quotes Economical_quotes Work_quotes Real_quotes Machine_quotes

Arthur_Bloch

Murphy's Law

“If anything can go wrong, it will.”
  • Source: Attributed to Edward A Murphy, reported in the book “Murphy's Law and Other Reasons Why Things Go Wrong” written by Arthur Bloch, first edition published in 1977 by [Price/Stern/Sloan](Los Angeles, California). ISBN-10: 0843104287. ISBN-13: 978-0843104288. Chapter ‘Murphology’, page 11.
Keywords: Engineering_quotes Anything_quotes Can_quotes Go_quotes Wrong_quotes Murphy(topic)_quotes Law_quotes

Robert_N_Britcher

Programming and Engineering

“Some aspects of programming will remain forever beyond the grasp of classical engineering. Programming is too much like writing, too personal and private, too much under the spell of hyperbole, marketing, and self-aggrandizement.”
  • Source: Britcher, Robert N. (1999). The Limits of Software: People, Projects, and Perspectives. Reading, MA: Addison Wesley. ISBN 0-201-43323-0. Page 208.
Keywords: Programming_quotes Classical_quotes Engineering_quotes Software_Engineering_quotes Writing_quotes Privacy_quotes Hyperbole_quotes Marketing_quotes Aggrandizement_quotes Craft_quotes Aspect_quotes Remain_quotes Forever_quotes Beyond_quotes Grasp_quotes Understanding_quotes Personal_quotes Spell_quotes Self_quotes

Knowing Versus Doing

“We should not give up because there is no unified field theory of software engineering. The elements may not be easy to implement, but they are relatively simple, especially when compared with the study of proteins. ... The problem is not that we do not know enough. The problem is that we do not practice what we know.”
  • Source: Britcher, Robert N. (1999). The Limits of Software: People, Projects, and Perspectives. Reading, MA: Addison Wesley. ISBN 0-201-43323-0. Page 209.
Keywords: Persistence_quotes Unification_quotes Theory_quotes Software_Engineering_quotes Element_quotes Hard_quotes Simplicity_quotes Protein_quotes Problem_quotes Knowledge_quotes Action_quotes Practice_quotes Doing_quotes Software_quotes Engineering_quotes Easy_quotes Implement_quotes Relative_quotes Compare_quotes Study_quotes Practice_quotes

Fred_Brooks

Brooks' Law

“Adding manpower to a late software project makes it later.”
  • Source: Brooks Jr., F. P. (1995). The Mythical Man-Month - Essays on Software Engineering (Anniversary Edition) | 1975/1995 (Anniv.). Boston. MA: Addison-Wesley. ISBN: 0201835959. Chapter 2, page 25. Known as Brooks' Law.
Keywords: Project_quotes Project_Management_quotes Schedule_quotes Software_Engineering_quotes Software_Management_quotes Human_Resources_quotes Law_quotes Management_quotes Software_quotes Engineering_quotes Human_quotes Resource_quotes Make_quotes Late_quotes

Tables versus Flowcharts

“Show me your flowcharts and conceal your tables, and I shall continue to be mystified. Show me your tables, and I won't usually need your flowcharts; they'll be obvious.”
  • Source: Brooks Jr., F. P. (1995). The Mythical Man-Month - Essays on Software Engineering (Anniversary Edition) | 1975/1995 (Anniv.). Boston. MA: Addison-Wesley. ISBN: 0201835959. Chapter 9, page 102.
Keywords: Software_Engineering_quotes Flowchart_quotes Data_quotes Data_Driven_quotes Programming_quotes Communication_quotes Confusion_quotes Obfuscation_quotes Software_quotes Engineering_quotes Conceal_quotes Table_quotes Continue_quotes Mystify_quotes Need_quotes Obvious_quotes

Rapid Prototyping

“Today the software engineering discipline is much more sophisticated. We recognize that rapid prototyping is an essential tool for formulating precise requirements. Not only is the design process iterative; the design-goal-setting process is itself iterative.”
  • Source: Brooks Jr., F. P. (2010). The Design of Design. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Addison-Wesley. ISBN: 978-0-201-36298-5. Chapter 3, page 23.
Keywords: Software_Engineering_quotes Rapid_quotes Prototyping_quotes Tool_quotes Requirements_quotes Iterative_quotes Goal_quotes Design_quotes Today_quotes Software_quotes Engineering_quotes Discipline_quotes Sophisticated_quotes Recognize_quotes Essential_quotes Formulate_quotes Precise_quotes Process_quotes Set_quotes

Rational Model

“Perhaps the most devastating critique of the Rational Model, although perhaps the hardest to prove, is that most experienced designers just don’t work that way.”
  • Source: Brooks Jr., F. P. (2010). The Design of Design. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Addison-Wesley. ISBN: 978-0-201-36298-5. Chapter 3, page 30.
Keywords: Rational_quotes Model_quotes Software_Engineering_quotes Software_Lifecycle_quotes Proof_quotes Experience_quotes Design_quotes Devastate_quotes Critique_quotes Hard_quotes Designer_quotes Work_quotes Software_quotes Engineering_quotes Lifecycle_quotes

Waterfall Model

“The Waterfall Model is wrong and harmful, we must outgrow it.”
  • Source: Brooks Jr., F. P. (2010). The Design of Design. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Addison-Wesley. ISBN: 978-0-201-36298-5. Chapter 3, page 34.
Keywords: Waterfall_quotes Model_quotes Software_Engineering_quotes Software_Lifecycle_quotes Harm_quotes Growth_quotes Error_quotes Uselessness_quotes Software_quotes Engineering_quotes Lifecycle_quotes Wrong_quotes

Edward_Emil_David

Software Engineer Training

"The problem of how the software engineers will get their practice is precisely the same as in other fields of engineering, and is insoluble. This is recognized in industry, where one makes sure that the young engineers coming in will get the proper kind of experience in time."
Keywords: Problem_quotes Software_quotes Software_Engineering_quotes Engineering_quotes Programmer_quotes Practice_quotes Training_quotes Insoluble_quotes Industry_quotes Young_quotes Experience_quotes Time_quotes Field_quotes Proper_quotes

Competitive Rush

"Computing has one property, unique I think, that seriously aggravates the uncertainties associated with software efforts. In computing, the research, development, and production phases are often telescoped into one process. In the competitive rush to make available the latest techniques, such as on-line consoles served by time-shared computers, we strive to take great forward leaps across gulfs of unknown width and depth."
Keywords: Software_Engineering_quotes Computer_quotes Uncertainty_quotes Effort_quotes Research_quotes Development_quotes Production_quotes Telescope_quotes Process_quotes Competition_quotes Unknown_quotes Scope_quotes Requirements_quotes Property_quotes Unique_quotes Aggravate_quotes Software_quotes Engineering_quotes Phase_quotes Technique_quotes Console_quotes Timeshare_quotes Strive_quotes Forward_quotes Leap_quotes Gulf_quotes Width_quotes Depth_quotes

W_Edwards_Deming

Statistical Methods

"Statistical methods had taken fire in America around 1942, following a series of ten-day intensive courses for engineers, initiated by Stanford University on a suggestion from this author. The war department also gave courses at factories of suppliers. Brilliant applications attracted much attention, but the flare of statistical methods by themselves, in an atmosphere in which management did not know their responsibilities, burned, sputtered, fizzled and died out."
  • Source: W. Edwards Deming. Quality, Productivity and Competitive Position (1982) p. 101.
Keywords: Statistics_quotes Methodology_quotes Fire_quotes America_quotes Intensity_quotes Course_quotes Education_quotes Training_quotes Engineering_quotes Factory_quotes Supply_quotes Brilliant_quotes Application_quotes Attention_quotes Flare_quotes Atmosphere_quotes Management_quotes Responsibility_quotes Burn_quotes Sputter_quotes Death_quotes Stanford_quotes War_quotes Fizzle_quotes

Edsger_Wybe_Dijkstra

Effective Reasoning

“The required techniques of effective reasoning are pretty formal, but as long as programming is done by people that don't master them, the software crisis will remain with us and will be considered an incurable disease. And you know what incurable diseases do: they invite the quacks and charlatans in, who in this case take the form of Software Engineering gurus.”
Keywords: Technique_quotes Effectiveness_quotes Reason_quotes Formal_quotes Programming_quotes Skill_quotes Software_quotes Crisis_quotes Incurability_quotes Disease_quotes Quack_quotes Charlatan_quotes Software_Engineering_quotes Guru_quotes People_quotes Master_quotes Engineering_quotes

Software Crisis

“The turning point was the Conference on Software Engineering in Garmisch, October 1968, a conference that created a sensation as there occurred the first open admission of the software crisis.”
Keywords: Turning_quotes Change_quotes Conference_quotes Software_Engineering_quotes Software_quotes Crisis_quotes Engineering_quotes Sensation_quotes Occur_quotes Admission_quotes

Peter_Drucker

Drucker's Law

“Engineers speak half–jokingly about Murphy's Law: 'If anything can go wrong, it will.' But complexity stands under a second law as well. Let me call it Drucker's law: 'If one thing goes wrong, everything else will, and at the same time.'”
  • Source: Peter F. Drucker, Management: Tasks, Responsibilities, Practices, New York: Harper & Row, 1973. p. 681.
Keywords: Engineering_quotes Speak_quotes Half_quotes Joke_quotes Murphy_quotes Law_quotes Anything_quotes Wrong_quotes Will_quotes Complexity_quotes Stand_quotes Second_quotes Call_quotes Drucker_quotes One_quotes Everything_quotes Same_quotes Time_quotes Murphy(topic)_quotes

Albert_Einstein

Magnificent Applied Science

“Why does this magnificent applied science which saves work and makes life easier bring us so little happiness? The simple answer runs: Because we have not yet learned to make sensible use of it. In war it serves that we may poison and mutilate each other. In peace it has made our lives hurried and uncertain. Instead of freeing us in great measure from spiritually exhausting labor, it has made men into slaves of machinery, who for the most part complete their monotonous long day's work with disgust and must continually tremble for their poor rations... It is not enough that you should understand about applied science in order that your work may increase man's blessings. Concern for the man himself and his fate must always form the chief interest of all technical endeavours; concern for the great unsolved problems of the organization of labor and the distribution of goods in order that the creations of our mind shall be a blessing and not a curse to mankind. Never forget this in the midst of your diagrams and equations.”
  • Source: Albert Einstein [Speaker];
    • 1950-02-16 [Speech/Date]; California Institute of Technology [Location]; CalTech students [Audience];
    • 1950-02-17 [Reporting/Article/Date]; “Einstein Sees Lack in Applying Science” [Title]; Anonymous [Article/Author]; New York Times [Reporting/Newspaper]; 8 [Page];
Keywords: Science_quotes Happiness_quotes War_quotes Wisdom_quotes Peace_quotes Work_quotes Slavery_quotes Automation_quotes Ethics_quotes Values_quotes Empathy_quotes Labor_quotes Distribution_quotes Mind_quotes Humanity_quotes Mathematics_quotes Engineering_quotes Magnificent_quotes Applied_quotes Save_quotes Life_quotes Simple_quotes Answer_quotes Learn_quotes Sensible_quotes Poison_quotes Mutilate_quotes Hurry_quotes Uncertain_quotes Freedom_quotes Spiritual_quotes Exhausting_quotes Men_quotes Machinery_quotes Monotonous_quotes Long_quotes Day_quotes Disgust_quotes Continual_quotes Tremble_quotes Poor_quotes Rations_quotes Understand_quotes Increase_quotes Blessing_quotes Man_quotes Fate_quotes Chief_quotes Interest_quotes Technical_quotes Endeavour_quotes Concern_quotes Problem_quotes Unsolved_quotes Organization_quotes Creation_quotes Curse_quotes Mankind_quotes Forget_quotes Diagram_quotes Equation_quotes

David_Epstein

Ill-Defined Problems

“Human intuition, it appears, is not very well engineered to make use of the best tools when faced with what the researchers called ‘ill-defined problems.’”
  • Source: David Epstein in the book “Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World”. Published 2019 by Riverhead Books. Chapter 5, page 106. ISBN 978-0735214484.
Keywords: Human_quotes Intuition_quotes Appear_quotes Well_quotes Engineering_quotes Make_quotes Use_quotes Best_quotes Tool_quotes Face_quotes Research_quotes Ill-defined_quotes Define_quotes Problem_quotes

Samuel_C_Florman

Drudgery

“Once the common man was released from drudgery, the engineers reasoned, he would inevitably become educated, cultured and ennobled, and this improvement in the race would also be to the credit of the engineering profession. Improved human beings, of course, would have to be happier human beings.”
  • Source: From the book “The Existential Pleasures of Engineering” by {Samuel C. Florman}. Second edition published in 1994 by {St. Martin's Press}, New York, NY. First edition published in 1976. Kindle edition published in 2023. E-book ISBN 978-1466842366. Chapter 1, page 6.
Keywords: Engineer_quotes Common_quotes Man_quotes Humanity_quotes Release_quotes Drudgery_quotes Reason_quotes Inevitable_quotes Education_quotes Culture_quotes Ennoble_quotes Improvement_quotes Race_quotes Credit_quotes Engineering_quotes Profession_quotes Human_quotes Being_quotes Happy_quotes

Irrationality

“So for the foreseeable future man’s irrationality — which engineering philosophers have seen fit to ignore — will have to be taken very seriously into account. In retrospect, the ideals and dreams of engineering’s Golden Age seem foolish and immature.”
  • Source: From the book “The Existential Pleasures of Engineering” by {Samuel C. Florman}. Second edition published in 1994 by {St. Martin's Press}, New York, NY. First edition published in 1976. Kindle edition published in 2023. E-book ISBN 978-1466842366. Chapter 2, page 16.
Keywords: Foresee_quotes Future_quotes Man_quotes Humanity_quotes Irrational_quotes Engineering_quotes Philosopher_quotes See_quotes Ignore_quotes Take_quotes Serious_quotes Account_quotes Retrospect_quotes Ideal_quotes Dream_quotes Golden_quotes Age_quotes Foolish_quotes Immature_quotes

Social Responsibility

“For if ever there was a group dedicated to — obsessed with — morality, conscience, and social responsibility, it has been the engineering profession. Practically every description of the practice of engineering has stressed the concept of service to humanity.”
  • Source: From the book “The Existential Pleasures of Engineering” by {Samuel C. Florman}. Second edition published in 1994 by {St. Martin's Press}, New York, NY. First edition published in 1976. Kindle edition published in 2023. E-book ISBN 978-1466842366. Chapter 3, page 19.
Keywords: Group_quotes Dedicated_quotes Obsess_quotes Morality_quotes Conscience_quotes Social_quotes Responsibility_quotes Engineering_quotes Profession_quotes Description_quotes Practice_quotes Stress_quotes Concept_quotes Service_quotes Humanity_quotes

Moral Absolute

“We will search in vain for a single engineering moral absolute acceptable to the entire profession.”
  • Source: From the book “The Existential Pleasures of Engineering” by {Samuel C. Florman}. Second edition published in 1994 by {St. Martin's Press}, New York, NY. First edition published in 1976. Kindle edition published in 2023. E-book ISBN 978-1466842366. Chapter 3, page 22.
Keywords: Search_quotes Vain_quotes Single_quotes Engineering_quotes Moral_quotes Absolute_quotes Acceptable_quotes Entire_quotes Profession_quotes

Mistakes

“Human error, lack of imagination, and blind ignorance. The practice of engineering is in large measure a continuing struggle to avoid making mistakes for these reasons.”
  • Source: From the book “The Existential Pleasures of Engineering” by {Samuel C. Florman}. Second edition published in 1994 by {St. Martin's Press}, New York, NY. First edition published in 1976. Kindle edition published in 2023. E-book ISBN 978-1466842366. Chapter 3, page 33.
Keywords: Human_quotes Error_quotes Lack_quotes Imagination_quotes Blind_quotes Ignorance_quotes Practice_quotes Engineering_quotes Large_quotes Measure_quotes Continue_quotes Struggle_quotes Avoid_quotes Make_quotes Mistake_quotes Reason_quotes

Emotional Fulfillment

“The nature of engineering has been misconceived. Analysis, rationality, materialism, and practical creativity do not preclude emotional fulfillment; they are pathways to such fulfillment. They do not ‘reduce’ experience, as is so often claimed; they expand it. Engineering is superficial only to those who view it superficially. At the heart of engineering lies existential joy.”
  • Source: From the book “The Existential Pleasures of Engineering” by {Samuel C. Florman}. Second edition published in 1994 by {St. Martin's Press}, New York, NY. First edition published in 1976. Kindle edition published in 2023. E-book ISBN 978-1466842366. Chapter 8, page 101.
Keywords: Nature_quotes Engineering_quotes Misconceived_quotes Analysis_quotes Rationality_quotes Materialism_quotes Practical_quotes Creativity_quotes Preclude_quotes Emotion_quotes Fulfillment_quotes Pathway_quotes Reduce_quotes Experience_quotes Claim_quotes Expand_quotes Superficial_quotes Heart_quotes Existential_quotes Joy_quotes

Woodie_Flowers

Die Proud

“I want to die proud of having been an engineer... that can happen only if we engineers behave ethically.”
  • Source: Book/Contributor=Woodie Flowers; Book/Title=“Ethics in Engineering Practice and Research”; Contribution/Placement=Forward; Book/Author={C. Whitbeck}; Book/Publication/Date=2011; Edition=2nd; Publisher=Cambridge University Press; Location=New York, NY.
Keywords: Engineering_quotes Death_quotes Pride_quotes Ethics_quotes

Gordon_Glegg

Engineering the Impossible

“One of the intriguing facts of the engineering profession is that it is not only possible but essential to do the impossible. But we must be careful to define what we mean by that word. We must distinguish between the relatively impossible and the intrinsically impossible. The relative impossibility is something which is impossible unless something else becomes possible. It always includes or implies a clause beginning 'unless'. The intrinsic impossibility contains an imprisoned self-contradiction within itself; it is absolutely impossible.”
  • Source: Glegg, G. L. (1969). The Design of Design. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. ISBN: 978-0-511-79996-9. Chapter 1 page 5.
Keywords: Fact_quotes Intriguing_quotes Engineering_quotes Professional_quotes Possibility_quotes Essential_quotes Impossibility_quotes Careful_quotes Definition_quotes Meaning_quotes Word_quotes Relative_quotes Intrinsic_quotes Self-Contradiction_quotes Absolute_quotes Distinguish_quotes Unless_quotes

Engineering Stars

“A scientist can discover a new star but he cannot make one. He would have to ask an engineer to do it for him.”
  • Source: Glegg, G. L. (1969). The Design of Design. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. ISBN: 978-0-511-79996-9. Introduction.
Keywords: Science_quotes Engineering_quotes Discovery_quotes Star_quotes Make_quotes Ask_quotes Do_quotes

Engineering Qualifications

“If you can do maths, engineering is waiting for you... There is one overriding qualification: you will never be a good engineer if you are frightened by hard work or responsibility.”
  • Source: Glegg, G. L. (1969). The Design of Design. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. ISBN: 978-0-511-79996-9. Chapter 2, page 25.
Keywords: Mathematics_quotes Engineering_quotes Qualification_quotes Word_quotes Effort_quotes Responsibility_quotes Fear_quotes Wait_quotes Override_quotes Frighten_quotes Hard_quotes Work_quotes

Engineers and Designers Are Human

“Throughout this book we have talked about 'designers' and 'engineers' and sought, by analysing their work, to find general and helpful maxims. But there is a danger in doing this, for we may forget that a 'designer' or 'engineer' is first and foremost a human being. A human being who designs or engineers has, in addition, a wide range of complicated and interacting emotions. It is easy to become emotionally involved in a new invention and so resent criticism of it even when that criticism, if heeded, would turn a failure into a success. Confidence may be blinded by conceit or undermined by an inferiority complex. History has shown that many new inventions were not inventions at all; they were re-inventions. The idea was not new but the determination to press through with it was. Character is the foundation of ability. Develop as large a safety margin as you can against such things as laziness, impatience, prejudice and arrogance and all the other human failings that inhibit constructive achievement in all spheres, especially that of creative engineering design.”
  • Source: Glegg, G. L. (1969). The Design of Design. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. ISBN: 978-0-511-79996-9. Chapter 6, page 92.
Keywords: Design_quotes Engineering_quotes Work_quotes Maxim_quotes Danger_quotes Forget_quotes Humanity_quotes Complexity_quotes Emotion_quotes Invention_quotes Criticism_quotes Resentment_quotes Failure_quotes Success_quotes Confidence_quotes Conceit_quotes Inferior_quotes History_quotes Idea_quotes Determination_quotes Character_quotes Ability_quotes Safe_quotes Lazy_quotes Impatience_quotes Prejudice_quotes Arrogance_quotes Achievement_quotes Sphere_quotes Creativity_quotes Analyze_quotes Human_quotes Interacting_quotes Heed_quotes Blind_quotes Reinvention_quotes Inhibit_quotes Constructive_quotes

Eugene_Grace

Great Engineers

“Thousands of engineers can design bridges, calculate strains and stresses, and draw up specifications for machines, but the great engineer is the man who can tell whether the bridge or the machine should be built at all, where it should be built, and when.”
Keywords: Engineering_quotes Engineer_quotes Bridge_quotes Stress_quotes Specification_quotes Machine_quotes Requirements_quotes Purpose_quotes Design_quotes Calculate_quotes Strain_quotes Draw_quotes Great_quotes Man_quotes Should_quotes Build_quotes

Cooperation

“In college and universities each student is given problems to work out, always by himself, never in cooperation with others. The present-day method of education may be suitable enough for lawyers, doctors, ministers, etc., but it is certainly not suitable for men who are going to enter engineering, industry, commerce, or business of any kind, where the very soul of success is cooperation with others.”
Keywords: College_quotes University_quotes Education_quotes Student_quotes Problem_quotes Work_quotes Cooperation_quotes Methodology_quotes Lawyer_quotes Doctor_quotes Minister_quotes Suitability_quotes Man_quotes Engineering_quotes Industrial_quotes Commerce_quotes Business_quotes Soul_quotes Success_quotes Method_quotes Suitable_quotes

Robert_Heinlein

Magic

“One man's ‘magic' is another man's engineering.”
  • Source: Written by Robert A. Heinlein in the book “Time Enough for Love”, published in 1973 by Putnam's Sons, ISBN: 0-399-11151-4. Page 250. Character: Lazarus Long.
Keywords: Man_quotes Magic_quotes Engineering_quotes

Grace_Hopper

Microsecond Nanosecond

“In total desperation, I called over to the engineering building, and I said, 'Please cut off a nanosecond and send it over to me'... At the end of about a week, I called back and said, 'I need something to compare this to. Could I please have a microsecond?”
  • Source: On demonstrating a billionth and then millionth of a second of electricity travel by cutting a piece of wire, in an interview on the CBS television program 60 Minutes (24 August 1986).
Keywords: Time_quotes Desperation_quotes Call_quotes Engineering_quotes Nanosecond_quotes Send_quotes Compare_quotes Microsecond_quotes

Patterson_Hume

University Software Experience

“What really worries me about software engineering is, do universities have to engage in large software projects in order to remain experts in the field of software engineering? Do they have to hire people who have had such experience with large projects, or do they have to have their professors go out and as consultants experience large software engineering projects? Then, when they come to exercise the students, do they have to have laboratories of some considerable consequence in software engineering exercises? Otherwise, who is to formulate principles of software engineering that can be used to train software engineers?”
Keywords: Worry_quotes Software_Engineering_quotes University_quotes Large_quotes Project_quotes Expert_quotes Experience_quotes Hire_quotes Consultant_quotes Professor_quotes Exercise_quotes Student_quotes Laboratory_quotes Formulation_quotes Training_quotes Engineering_quotes People_quotes

Kenneth_W_Kolence

Software Not Physical

“We clearly do not now have an engineering capability comparable to those based on the physical sciences. Such a capability is what is implied by the term software engineering. But software is not a physical system, it is a description of what one describes how a given physical system (a computer of some sort) should act. Thus software is more akin to engineering drawings, either maintained on paper or within a computer. ... So probably it is incorrect to assume software engineering should be considered as a sibling in the family of the physical science based engineering disciplines.”
Keywords: Engineering_quotes Capability_quotes Compare_quotes Physical_quotes Science_quotes Software_Engineering_quotes Software_quotes System_quotes Computer_quotes Activity_quotes Drawing_quotes Paper_quotes Sibling_quotes Family_quotes Discipline_quotes Consider_quotes Maintain_quotes Incorrect_quotes

Software Engineer

“There are people who call themselves software engineers, and who build software systems that other people trust their lives to that software. So a great deal of progress has really been made since 1962 (when I first began considering myself as a software engineer) and in that respect toward what may be considered as a valid engineering capability. ... Using the term [Software Engineering] ... actually did, for the first time, provide programmers with a more professional description of what they were trying to do. In my opinion, that was a very good thing.”
Keywords: People_quotes Software_Engineering_quotes Programming_quotes Trust_quotes Life_quotes Software_quotes Progress_quotes Engineering_quotes Validity_quotes Capability_quotes Professional_quotes Build_quotes Term_quotes First_quotes Time_quotes Provide_quotes

Software Engineering Body of Knowledge

‘While software engineering may be based on good principles of design activities, it is not a physical science based engineering body of knowledge. So we have to build an engineering capability based on some other body of knowledge.”
Keywords: Software_Engineering_quotes Principle_quotes Design_quotes Activity_quotes Physical_quotes Science_quotes Engineering_quotes Body_quotes Knowledge_quotes Capability_quotes Software_quotes

Alexander_Kossiakoff et al.

Systems Engineering Function

“The function of systems engineering is to guide the engineering of complex systems.”
  • Source: Kossiakoff, Alexander; Sweet, William N.; Seymour, Samuel J.; Biemer, Steven M.. Systems Engineering Principles and Practice. Wiley. 2011. Kindle Edition. Section 1.1. Page 3.
Keywords: Function_quotes System_quotes Engineering_quotes Complexity_quotes Guidance_quotes

Skeptical Positive Thinking

"The Power of Skeptical Positive Thinking... is meant to capture an important characteristic of successful systems engineering. The skeptical part is important to temper the traditional optimism of the design specialist regarding the probability of success of a chosen design approach. It is the driving force for the insistence of validation of the approach selected at the earliest possible opportunity. The other dimension of skepticism, which is directly related to the characteristic of positive thinking, refers to the reaction in the face of failure or apparent failure of a selected technique or design approach. Many design specialists who encounter an unexpected failure are plunged into despair. The systems engineer, on the other hand, cannot afford the luxury of hand wringing."
  • Source:Kossiakoff, Alexander; Sweet, William N.; Seymour, Samuel J.; Biemer, Steven M.. 'Systems Engineering Principles and Practice'. 2011. Wiley. Kindle Edition. Section 1.6 page 23.
Keywords: Power_quotes Skepticism_quotes Positive_quotes Thinking_quotes Importance_quotes Success_quotes System_quotes Engineering_quotes Optimism_quotes Design_quotes Specialization_quotes Probability_quotes Validation_quotes Early_quotes Opportunity_quotes Failure_quotes Despair_quotes Luxury_quotes Characteristic_quotes Drive_quotes Force_quotes Insist_quotes Approach_quotes Select_quotes Dimension_quotes Direct_quotes Relate_quotes Reaction_quotes Face_quotes Apparent_quotes Technique_quotes Encounter_quotes Unexpected_quotes Plunge_quotes Afford_quotes Hand_quotes Wring_quotes

Michael_Sean_Mahoney

Software Crisis and Software Engineering

“Let me say a bit more about the ‘software crisis’. It emerged in the late 1960s as an increasing number of large projects experienced large cost overruns, missed deadlines and failures to meet specifications. Some had to be canceled altogether. One response was calls for a discipline of ‘software engineering’”
  • Source: Michael S. Mahoney in a paper entitled The Histories of Computing(s). Published 2005 in Interdisciplinary Science Reviews, volume 30, number 2, pages 119–135. DOI: 10.1179/030801805X25927.
Keywords: Software_quotes Crisis_quotes Project_quotes Experience_quotes Cost_quotes Overrun_quotes Deadline_quotes Failure_quotes Specification_quotes Requirements_quotes Cancel_quotes Software_Engineering_quotes Engineering_quotes

Undefined Software Engineering

“If one could not define 'software engineering' at the time, neither could one point to its practice. It was not coined to characterize an ongoing activity but rather to express a desire for one.”
  • Source: Michael S. Mahoney in a paper entitled The Roots of Software Engineering. Published 1990 in CWI Quarterly, volume 3, number 4.
Keywords: Definition_quotes Software_quotes Software_Engineering_quotes Engineering_quotes Time_quotes Practice_quotes Coin_quotes Activity_quotes Desire_quotes

Benoît_Mandelbrot

Engineering and Science

“Engineering is too important to wait for science.”
  • Source: Quoted in the article 'Fractal Finance' by Greg Phelan, Yale Economic Review, Fall, 2005.
Keywords: Engineering_quotes Science_quotes Importance_quotes Wait_quotes

Malcolm_McIlroy

Programs and Bridges

“There is a difference between writing programs and designing bridges.”
Keywords: Differences_quotes Programming_quotes Design_quotes Bridge_quotes Software_Engineering_quotes Engineering_quotes Writing_quotes

Edward_A_Murphy

Murphy's Law

Popular Version:
  “If anything can go wrong, it will.”
Original Version First Report:
  “If there are two or more ways to do something
   and one of those results in a catastrophe,
   then someone will do it that way”
Original Version Second Report:
  "If there is any way to do it wrong, he will."
  • Source:
    • Attributed to Edward A Murphy, reported in the book “Murphy's Law and Other Reasons Why Things Go Wrong” written by Arthur Bloch, first edition publish in 1977 by Price/Stern/Sloan, Los Angeles, California. ISBN-10: 0843104287. ISBN-13: 978-0843104288.
    • Attributed to Edward A Murphy, reported in the article “The Science of Murphy’s Law” written by Robert A. J. Matthews, published in 'Scientific America, volume 276 number 4, April 1997, DOI: 10.1038/scientificamerican0497-88.
    • Attributed to Edward A Murphy, reported in the book “The Making of a Scientist” by Anne Roe, published in 1953 by Dodd and Mead, New York, NY. ISBN 10: 0837171512. ISBN 13: 9780837171517.
  • Notes: An idea expressed by Edward Aloysius Murphy Jr. in 1949 in reference to rocket sled engineering work.
Keywords: Engineering_quotes Something_quotes Can_quotes Go_quotes Wrong_quotes Way_quotes Do_quotes One_quotes Two_quotes Result_quotes Catastrophe_quotes Someone_quotes Anything_quotes Murphy(topic)_quotes Law_quotes

John_David_North

Art of Engineering

“Aeroplanes are not designed by science, but by art in spite of some pretense and humbug to the contrary. I do not mean to suggest that engineering can do without science, on the contrary, it stands on scientific foundations, but there is a big gap between scientific research and the engineering product which has to be bridged by the art of the engineer.”
  • Source: John D. North, In John D. North, 'The Case for Metal Construction', The Journal of the Royal Aeronautical Society, (Jan 1923), 27, 11.
Keywords: Airplane_quotes Design_quotes Science_quotes Pretense_quotes Humbug_quotes Contrary_quotes Suggestion_quotes Engineering_quotes Foundation_quotes Gap_quotes Research_quotes Bridge_quotes Art_quotes Product_quotes

David_E_Nye

Programmers Perfectionists

“A single error in a program thousands of lines long prevented it from running correctly, and computer programmers became known as a fanatically exact group of perfectionists, working in an arcane specialty. Sociologists studying the ‘man-machine' interface found that a programmer's personality often changed after prolonged exposure to the computer, becoming severely logical and machine-like.”
  • Source: A book. Written by David E. Nye. Entitled 'Narratives and Spaces'. Published in 1997 by Univerity of Exeter Press, Exeter, UK. Hardback ISBN 0-85989-555-6. Paperback ISBN 0-85989-556-4. Chapter 10, page 164.
Keywords: Single_quotes Error_quotes Program_quotes Thousand_quotes Line_quotes Long_quotes Prevent_quotes Run_quotes Correct_quotes Computer_quotes Programmer_quotes Fanatic_quotes Exact_quotes Group_quotes Perfectionist_quotes Work_quotes Arcane_quotes Specialty_quotes Sociologist_quotes Study_quotes Man_quotes Machine_quotes Interface_quotes Find_quotes Personality_quotes Change_quotes Prolong_quotes Exposure_quotes Severe_quotes Logical_quotes Software_quotes Engineering_quotes Software_Engineering_quotes

J_Robert_Oppenheimer

Technically Sweet

“When you see something that is technically sweet, you go ahead and do it and argue about what to do about it only after you've had your technical success. That is the way it was with the atomic bomb.”
Keywords: Sight_quotes Technology_quotes Sweet_quotes Argue_quotes Do_quotes After_quotes Success_quotes Way_quotes Atomic_quotes Engineering_quotes

Parkinson_and_Margulieux

Spatial Skills

“Higher spatial reasoning skills universally correlate with better STEM [Science Technology Engineering Mathematics] performance and achievement... This correlation is particularly interesting because spatial skills can be trained, and spatial skills training globally improves STEM performance and achievement.”
  • Source: From the journal article entitled “Improving CS Performance by Developing Spatial Skills”, in Communications of the ACM, volume 68, number 1, 2025-01. DOI:10.1145/3680409.
Keywords: High_quotes Spatial_quotes Reason_quotes Skill_quotes Universal_quotes Correlation_quotes Better_quotes STEM_quotes Science_quotes Technology_quotes Engineering_quotes Mathematics_quotes Performance_quotes Achievement_quotes Interest_quotes Train_quotes Global_quotes Improve_quotes

Richard_Pascale

Efficiency and Variation

“Corporations, in the name of efficiency, suppress variation by 'getting all the ducks in line'. To optimize productivity, they evolve highly refined and internally consistent operating systems. Payoff results - as long as the music lasts. But in the face of nontraditional competitors or major environmental discontinuities, all that streamlining and reengineering limits diversity, suppresses self-organization by those closest to the disruptive change, and curtails a bottom-up emergent response to cope more effectively... Nothing fails like success. Over-adaptive organizations become inflexible. Disruptive change leaves them as helpless as a beached whale.”
  • Source: Richard T. Pascale, Jerry Sternin, Monique Sternin (2010). “The Power of Positive Deviance: How Unlikely Innovators Solve the World's Toughest Problems”, p.190, Boston, MA: Harvard Business Press
Keywords: Efficiency_quotes Corporation_quotes Suppress_quotes Variability_quotes Duck_quotes Optimization_quotes Productivity_quotes Evolution_quotes Refine_quotes Consistency_quotes Operating_System_quotes Pay_quotes Result_quotes Music_quotes Tradition_quotes Competition_quotes Major_quotes Environment_quotes Discontinuity_quotes Streamline_quotes Reengineering_quotes Engineering_quotes Limitation_quotes Diversity_quotes Self-Organization_quotes Organization_quotes Disruption_quotes Change_quotes Helpless_quotes Whale_quotes Line_quotes System_quotes Nontraditional_quotes Bottom-up_quotes Emergent_quotes Response_quotes Cope_quotes Effective_quotes Innovation_quotes Failure_quotes Success_quotes Over-adaptive_quotes Inflexible_quotes Beached_quotes

Alan_Perlis

Software Engineering Competence

“It is a fact that there are software engineers around today who are quite competent. There are systems in many places which are quite stable and which provide magnificent service. It is also the case that there are large numbers of efforts, containing large numbers of programs and programmers, which have no software engineers on them, that is that people function as though they did not know how to build software.”
  • Note: Un-indexed continuation of quote: “I have a number of questions: 1. Is it possible to have software engineers in the numbers in which we need them, without formal software engineering education? 2. Is software engineering the same as Computer Science? 3. Is software engineering best provided by baccalaureate programs in universities? Or by adult education courses? Or by two year courses following the standard grade school education? 4. Do the people educated in these programs have a growing and future role in our society? 5. Will they be useful enough in a firm or government or university, and is their value such that they can distribute their talents in other activities, or must they always remain programmers? 6. What curriculum do we have in mind for software engineers, regardless of what level we choose to educate them? 7. Is software engineering really different from what we now call systems engineering?”
Keywords: Fact_quotes Software_Engineering_quotes Competence_quotes System_quotes Place_quotes Stable_quotes Provide_quotes Magnificent_quotes Service_quotes Effort_quotes Large_quotesProgram_quotes Programmer_quotes People_quotes Knowledge_quotes Build_quotes Software_quotes Development_quotes Engineering_quotes

First Software Engineering Conference

“This is the first conference ever held on software engineering and it behooves us to take this conference quite seriously since it will likely set the tone of future work in this field”
Keywords: First_quotes Conference_quotes Software_Engineering_quotes Serious_quotes Tone_quotes Future_quotes Work_quotes Field_quotes Software_quotes Engineering_quotes

Training

“Our problems arise from demands, appetites, and our exuberant optimism. They are magnified by the unevenly trained personnel with which we work. In our deliberations we will not, I believe, be able to avoid the education problem — software engineering does not exist without software engineers.”
Keywords: Problem_quotes Arise_quotes Demand_quotes Appetite_quotes Exuberant_quotes Magnify_quotes Uneven_quotes Training_quotes Personnel_quotes Work_quotes Deliberation_quotes Belief_quotes Avoidance_quotes Education_quotes Software_Engineering_quotes Optimism_quotes Engineering_quotes Engineer_quotes Software_quotes

Steven_Pinker

Psychology is Reverse Engineering

“Psychology is engineering in reverse.”
  • Source: Steven Pinker (1997). How the Mind Works. New York, NY: W. W. Norton. ISBN 978-0-393-06973-0; eISBN 978-0-393-06973-0. Chapter 1.
Keywords: Psychology_quotes Reverse_quotes Engineering_quotes

Jef_Raskin

Oppressive Computers

“Right now, computers, which are supposed to be our servant, are oppressing us.”
  • Source: Jef Raskin, on the potential to improve human-computer interaction, in interview with Berkeley Groks (3 March 2004).
Keywords: Computer_quotes User_Interface_quotes Servant_quotes Oppression_quotes Suppose_quotes Unexpected_quotes Engineering_quotes

Rittel_and_Webber

Planning Problems are Wicked Problems

“A great many barriers keep us from perfecting such a planning/governing system. Theory is inadequate for decent forecasting, our intelligence is insufficient to our tasks, plurality of objectives held by pluralities of politics makes it impossible to pursue unitary aims, and so on. The difficulties attached to rationality are tenacious, and we have so far been unable to get untangled from their web. This is partly because the classical paradigm of science and engineering - the paradigm that has underlain modern professionalism - is not applicable to the problems of open societal systems.”
Keywords: Great_quotes Barrier_quotes Keep_quotes Perfect_quotes Plan_quotes Govern_quotes System_quotes Theory_quotes Inadequate_quotes Decent_quotes Forecast_quotes Intelligence_quotes Insufficient_quotes Task_quotes Pluralistic_quotes Objective_quotes Political_quotes Impossibility_quotes Pursuit_quotes Unitary_quotes Aim_quotes Difficulty_quotes Attach_quotes Rational_quotes Tenacious_quotes Untangle_quotes Web_quotes Classical_quotes Paradigm_quotes Science_quotes Engineering_quotes Modern_quotes Professional_quotes Applicable_quotes Problem_quotes Society_quotes

Franz_Selig

Specification Feedback

“External specifications at any level describe the software product in terms of the items controlled by and available to the user. The internal design describes the software product in terms of the program structures which realize the external specifications. It has to be understood that feedback between the design of the external and internal specifications is an essential part of a realistic and effective implementation process. Furthermore, this interaction must begin at the earliest stage of establishing the objectives, and continue until completion of the product.”
Keywords: Software_Engineering_quotes Specification_quotes Design_quotes Feedback_quotes Implementation_quotes Project_quotes Goal_quotes Objectives_quotes Software_quotes Engineering_quotes Level_quotes Product_quotes Term_quotes Item_quotes Control_quotes Available_quotes Internal_quotes Realize_quotes External_quotes Understand_quotes Essential_quotes Part_quotes Realistic_quotes Effective_quotes Process_quotes Interaction_quotes Stage_quotes Establish_quotes Completion_quotes

Herbert_Simon

Engineering and Design

“Historically and traditionally, it has been the task of the science disciplines to teach about natural things: how they are and how they work. It has been the task of engineering schools to teach about artificial things: how to make artifacts that have desired properties and how to design.”
Keywords: History_quotes Tradition_quotes Task_quotes Science_quotes Discipline_quotes Teaching_quotes Natural_quotes Work_quotes Engineering_quotes Artificial_quotes Artifact_quotes Desire_quotes Property_quotes Design_quotes School_quotes

Design and Analysis

“In view of the key role of design in professional activity, it is ironic that in this century the natural sciences almost drove the sciences of the artificial from professional school curricula, a development that peaked about two or three decades after the Second World War. Engineering schools gradually became schools of physics and mathematics; medical schools became schools of biological science; business schools became schools of finite mathematics. The use of adjectives like 'applied' concealed, but did not change, the fact. It simply meant that in the professional schools those topics were selected from mathematics and the natural sciences for emphasis which were thought to be most nearly relevant to professional practice. It did not mean that design continued to be taught, as distinguished from analysis.”
Keywords: View_quotes Key_quotes Role_quotes Design_quotes Professional_quotes Activity_quotes Irony_quotes Century_quotes Natural_quotes Science_quotes Drive_quotes Artificial_quotes School_quotes Curriculum_quotes Development_quotes Peak_quotes Decade_quotes World_quotes War_quotes Engineering_quotes Gradual_quotes Physics_quotes Mathematics_quotes Medical_quotes Biology_quotes Business_quotes Finite_quotes Applied_quotes Conceal_quotes Change_quotes Fact_quotes Simplicity_quotes Meaning_quotes Topic_quotes Selection_quotes Emphasis_quotes Thinking_quotes Near_quotes Relevance_quotes Practice_quotes Continue_quotes Teaching_quotes Analysis_quotes

Loss of Design Damage

“The damage to professional competence caused by the loss of design from professional curricula gradually gained recognition in engineering and medicine and to a lesser extent in business.”

Keywords: Damage_quotes Professional_quotes Competence_quotes Cause_quotes Loss_quotes Design_quotes Curriculum_quotes Gradual_quotes Gain_quotes Recognition_quotes Engineering_quotes Medical_quotes Business_quotes

Shannon_Vallor

Computer Does

“The computer did precisely what we told it to do, just not what we thought we had told it to do. Much of software engineering is simply figuring out how to close the gap between those two things.”
  • Source: From the book “The AI Mirror” by Shannon Vallor. Published 2024 by Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0197759066. Chapter 2, page 45.
Keywords: Computer_quotes Precision_quotes Told_quotes Do_quotes Thought_quotes Software_quotes Engineering_quotes Simple_quotes Figure_quotes Close_quotes Gap_quotes Between_quotes Requirements_quotes

Gerald_Weinberg

Knowledge Came Slowly

“In ages past, the knowledge came very slowly, and one man in his life was not likely to see much change other than that wrought by nature. The controlled incorporation of arsenic into copper to make bronze took several thousand years to develop; the substitution of tin for the more dangerous arsenic took another thousand or two. In our modern age, laboratories turn out an alloy a day, or more, with properties made to order. The alloying of metals led to the rise and fall of civilizations, but the changes were too slow to be appreciated. A truer blade meant victory over the invaders, but changes were local and slow enough to be absorbed by a million tiny adjustments without destroying the species. With an alloy a day, we can no longer be sure. Science and engineering have been the catalysts for the unprecedented speed and magnitude of change. The physicist shows us how to harness the power of the nucleus; the chemist shows us how to increase the quantity of our food; the geneticist shows us how to improve the quality of our children. But science and engineering have been unable to keep pace with the second-order effects produced by their first-order victories. The excess heat from the nuclear generator alters the spawning pattern of fish, and, before adjustments can be made, other species have produced irreversible changes in the ecology of the river and its borders. The pesticide eliminates one insect only to the advantage of others that may be worse, or the herbicide clears the rain forest for farming, but the resulting soil changes make the land less productive than it was before. And of what we are doing to our progeny, we still have only ghastly hints. Some have said the general systems movement was born out of the failures of science, but it would be more accurate to say the general systems approach is needed because science has been such a success. Science and technology have colonized the planet, and nothing in our lives is untouched. In this changing, they have revealed a complexity with which they are not prepared to deal. The general systems movement has taken up the task of helping scientists unravel complexity, technologists to master it, and others to learn to live with it.”
  • Source: Weinberg, Gerald (2011-04-07). An Introduction to General Systems Thinking (Kindle Locations 264-267). Weinberg & Weinberg. Kindle Edition.
Keywords: History_quotes Knowledge_quotes Slow_quotes Humanity_quotes Life_quotes Change_quotes Nature_quotes Arsenic_quotes Copper_quotes Bronze_quotes Technology_quotes Tin_quotes Metal_quotes Laboratory_quotes Property_quotes On_Demand_quotes Rise_quotes Fall_quotes Civilization_quotes Appreciation_quotes Victory_quotes Blade_quotes Invader_quotes Adjustment_quotes Species_quotes Science_quotes Engineering_quotes Catalyst_quotes Speed_quotes Physics_quotes Chemistry_quotes Food_quotes Genetics_quotes Quality_quotes Children_quotes Effect_quotes Heat_quotes Fish_quotes Irreversible_quotes Ecology_quotes River_quotes Pesticide_quotes Insect_quotes Herbicide_quotes Forest_quotes Farming_quotes Soil_quotes Productivity_quotes Progeny_quotes System_quotes Failure_quotes Accuracy_quotes Colonize_quotes Planet_quotes Earth_quotes Complexity_quotes Preparation_quotes Man_quotes Nucleus_quotes Quantity_quotes Second-order_quotes First-order_quotes Nuclear_quotes Generator_quotes Alter_quotes Spawn_quotes Pattern_quotes Border_quotes Eliminate_quotes Advantage_quotes Worse_quotes Rain_quotes Land_quotes Ghastly_quotes Hint_quotes General_quotes Approach_quotes Success_quotes Accurate_quotes Say_quotes Untouch_quotes Reveal_quotes Master_quotes Learn_quotes
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