Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
11
22
T. Aquinas, Summa Theologica , I-II Q94
Art 2.
K-PhD program ''provides opportunities
for children to learn to think critically
and analytically while developing
a passion for understanding the world
and an appreciation for improving the
quality of all living things.'' Its mission ''is
to increase significantly the number of
children, particularly female and under-
represented groups, who choose to
pursue science related careers.''
Petroski, To Engineer Is Human .
23
The Memoirs of Herbert Hoover 1874-
1920: Years of Adventure , vol. 1, Library
of Congress E 802.H7 (Washington, DC:
1951), 132-3.
12
Often, texts, manuals, and handbooks are
valuable, but only when experience and
good listening skills are added to the mix
can wise (and ethical) decisions be made.
First-century thinking linked maturity to
''self-control'' or ''temperance'' (Greek
kratos for ''strength''). St Peter, for
example, considered knowledge as
a prerequisite for temperance. Thus,
from a professional point of view, he
seemed to be arguing that one can really
only understand and appropriately apply
scientific theory and principles after one
practices them (I realize he was talking
about spirituality, but anyone who even
casually studied Peter's life would see
that he fully integrated the physical and
the spiritual). This is actually the
structure of most professions. For
example, engineers who intend to
practice must first submit to a rigorous
curriculum (approved and accredited by
the Accreditation Board for Engineering
and Technology), then must sit for the
Future Engineers (FE) examination. After
some years in the profession (assuming
tutelage by and intellectual osmosis with
more seasoned professionals), the
engineer has demonstrated the kratos
(strength) to sit for the Professional
Engineers (PE) exam. Only after passing
the PE exam does the National Society
for Professional Engineering certify that
the engineer is a ''professional engineer''
and eligible to use the initials PE after
one's name. The engineer is, supposedly,
now schooled beyond textbook
knowledge and knows more about why in
many problems the correct answer is
''It depends.'' In fact, the mentored
engineer even has some idea of what the
answer depends on (i.e., beyond
''knowing that one does not know'' as
Socrates would say).
24
Translated from ''Je pense, donc je suis,''
in R. Descartes, 1637, Discourse on
Method .
25
T.S. Kuhn, The Structure of Scientific
Revolutions (Chicago, IL: University of
Chicago Press, 1962). Much of the
economics and engineering comparative
discussion benefits from the work of
Duke undergraduate student, Rayhaneh
Sharif-Askary's research.
17
This profundity is actually a quote by
P.A. Vesilind, RL Rooke Professor of
Engineering, Bucknell University, at the
conference, ''Engineers Working for
Peace, Lewisburg, Pennsylvania,
15 November 2003.'' Vesilind made the
comment as a reminder of the
practicality of the profession and the
need to respect the ethos of engineers
when addressing societal issues, like
peace and justice.
26
B. Gert, Letter to the Editor, The Ag
Bioethics Forum (Iowa State University)
5, no. 2 (November 1993).
27
R.C. Hilborn, Chaos and Nonlinear
Dynamics (UK: Oxford University
Press, 1994).
18
The concept of ''clean'' is subject to
debate within the engineering
community. It parallels the questions
about safety. When is a device or drug
sufficiently ''safe'' to move to the
production stage? Environmental
engineers ask a similar question, ''How
clean is clean?'' We wonder when we
have done a sufficient job of cleaning up
a spill or a hazardous waste site.
It is often not possible to have
nondetectable concentrations of
a pollutant, especially since analytical
chemistry and other scientific disciplines
continue to improve. Commonly,
a threshold for cancer risk to
a population is one in a million excess
cancers. In cleanup situations, the
tolerable risk may be much higher (e.g.,
one in ten thousand). However, one may
find that the contaminant is so difficult
to remove that we almost give up on
dealing with the contamination and put
in measures to prevent exposures, i.e.,
fencing the area in and prohibiting
access. This is often done as a first step
in site remediation, but is unsatisfying
and controversial (and usually politically
and legally unacceptable). Thus, even if
costs are high and technology unreliable,
the engineer must find suitable and
creative ways to clean up the mess and
meet risk-based standards.
28
Hadamard, Lectures on the Cauchy
Problem .
29
National Academy of Engineering, The
Engineer of 2020: Visions of Engineering
in the New Century (Washington, DC:
National Academy Press, 2004), 48.
30
This analogy does not hold completely to
the economics of technology, since in
chemistry the catalyst is a chemical
substance that increases the rate of
a reaction without being consumed. We
know that technologies do indeed
become consumed (antiquated and in
need of replacement).
31
National Aeronautics and Space
Administration Thermodynamic
Equilibrium, 15 March 2006, http://
www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/K-12/
airplane/thermoO.html .
32
M. Martin and R. Schinzinger, Ethic in
Engineering (New York, NY: McGraw-
Hill, 1996).
33
His actual given name was Thomas
Robert Malthus.
13
American Medical Association (AMA),
1997, Policy E-2.01 Abortion, http://
www.ama-assn.org/apps/pf_new/pf_
online?f_n ¼ browse& doc ¼ policyfiles/
HnE/E-2.01.HTM&&s_t ¼ &st_
p ¼ &nth ¼ 1&prev_pol ¼ policyfiles/
HnE/E-1.02.HTM&nxt_pol ¼
policyfiles/HnE/E-2.01.HTM&
(accessed 13 July 2006).
34
Paul R. Ehrlich, The Population Bomb
(New York, NY: Ballantine Books, 1968).
35
Ibid., 20.
36
Salil Singh, 17 April 2006, ''Norman
Borlaug: A Billion Lives Saved.'' A World
Connected, http://www.aworld
connected.org/article.php/311.html .
19
K. Johnson, ''We Need to Keep Leading
Students into Science, Math,'' Editorial
in The Durham (NC) Herald-Sun ,
p. A-ll, 12 February 2006.
37
Ibid.
14
AMA, H-5.995, Abortion.
38
Ibid.
15
P. Lee and R.P. George, ''The Wrong of
Abortion,'' in Contemporary Debates in
Applied Ethics , ed. A. Cohen and
C.H. Wellman (Malden, MA: Blackwell
Publishing, 2004).
39
Ehrlich, The Population Bomb , 95.
40
20
Ibid., 96.
H. Petroski, To Engineer Is Human: The
Role of Failure in Successful Design (New
York, NY: St. Martin's Press, 1985).
41
Ibid., 69.
42
Ibid.
16
21
Duke University, 2006, http://www.
k-phd.duke.edu/purpose.htm (accessed
13 April 2006). According to the site, the
T.J. Albrecht, ''ISO 9002
Implementation: Lessons Learned,''
Quality Digest 14 (1994): 55-61.
43
National Academy of Engineering, 27-8.
44
Ibid.
45
Ibid., 28-9.
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