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101 Things I Learned

101 Things I Learned in Engineering School

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進入理科人的職場世界

工程學院新生必讀
啟蒙大學生找脈絡,引發工程師反思專業
鼓勵大家用工程師視野看世界

  給所有人的公開課
  告訴你工程學的「十萬個為什麼?」
  工程師們懂甚麼?想什麼?
  帶你擁有科學邏輯的頭腦,像工程師一樣思考!

  圖解最基本的工程學入門
  感覺很難的理工常識,竟然都看懂了?!
  原來,生活中的所有問題
  都蘊藏著一個再熟悉不過的基本科學

  側身科普界數十年,哪本書是工程學的「十萬個為什麼」?我敢說就是這本書。──張之傑(科普作家)

  「曲高未必和寡,深入何妨淺出」的科普特色,本書非常適合想就讀理工科系的高中生閱讀。──簡麗賢(北一女中物理教師)

  為什麼提升生產速度並不會省錢?地下水會讓建築「上浮」嗎?設計汽車,追求速度,但如何不讓白努力定律使車子「飛」起來?十字路口超危險!圓環交流道為何既安全又有效率?運用簡單的三角形結構,就能打造最穩固複雜的大橋?混凝土不是變乾,而是癒合?!

  ▌專業迷人、充滿挑戰,腦補你不知道的工程師世界

  工程師認為他們的專業迷人、有創造力並充滿有趣的挑戰。但外行人卻認為工程學是重複性高、機械性並讓人深感挫折?!為何如此?其實兩種觀點都明顯為真。因為工程是門複雜的學問。工程學需要在大學課程的前兩年密集地學習數學、物理與化學。儘管聚焦在這些重要學科上,大學課程卻往往沒有展現學科間的連結。當作者還是一個工程學院的新鮮人時,發現課堂上所學到的計算與抽象概念難以與現實世界產生連結,因而感到挫折──因為工程學院的課程讓你見樹,卻不見林!

  本書試圖翻轉這一點,在美國加州大學任教的作者,既是工程師,又是老師,努力深入淺出,藉由強調基本概念背後的常識、各項工程學專業主題之間的關聯,說明簡單的抽象概念究竟是如何從日常生活中推導出來。

  這本書展現了工程學背後的脈絡,能讓入門者和一般人一瞥工程學的林與樹,啟蒙並激起大學生找出學科間連結的興趣,並讓他們了解正在學習的數學、科學知識背後的脈絡;也期待引發在職工程師們去反思他們專業領域間微妙而難以捉摸的關係;並鼓勵一般讀者以工程師的視野看待工程的世界:一個迷人、富創造力、有挑戰性、需要協作、並永遠充滿意義的世界。

  ▌原來,「土木工程」是所有工程學分支的源頭?

  「工程學」是什麼?作者開篇就以「工程學系譜」來說明工程學科之間錯綜複雜的關係:生物醫學、電腦、核子、生物化學、航太、化學、環境、電子、材料、機械、軍事……工程,這些學科在「物理、化學、數學、生物學」等知識上各有哪些不同的側重與考量?而「土木工程」,其實正是所有工程學分支的源頭。

  ▌解決問題,工程師這樣想

  ‧做工程不是數學競賽
  計算並不是工程的階段目標或最終目的,計算只是用來找到問題解決方案的許多手段之一。

  ‧工程師都懂計算,好的工程師會「溝通」
  隨著更多工程專業領域的出現,工程師「對話」的需求也變得更迫切。現在的工程師不但需要注意領域內高度專業化的術語與概念。同樣地,工程師必須要能夠將這些專業術語轉換成能被客戶、使用者及其他工程師了解的日常語言。

  ˙初期的決定造成的影響最大
  計畫進行初期所做的決定或假設,對設計本身、可行性與成本都會造成深遠影響。

  ˙提升生產速度並不會省錢
  當生產程序加速,通常會預期減少間接成本,如設備租金、管理、水電費,但加速實際上會產生更多混亂、錯誤、不合格產品以及加班費。理想的計畫持續時間,要盡可能讓間接成本與直接成本最小化。

  ‧很少有消費者會願意付錢購買完美的產品
  相較於高品質產品,顧客會更願意花錢購買品質進步的低品質產品。低品質產品10%的進步,會創造比10%更多的品質價值──最佳的品質/成本狀態會在價值與成本曲線的「斜率」相同時發生。

  ‧完美的可靠性並不總是值得追求
  追求產品的完美可能導致成本上升:橋、太空船、心律調整器等類似的重要產品可靠性的數值是1(最強),因為這些產品的故障可能造成生命損失;DVD播放器、玩具等,通常會被設計為可靠性小於1,因為這些產品的故障並不危急。

  ˙設計總是有所取捨
  好的設計並不會讓每個考量最大化,或是在每個考量中做出妥協,而是在數個可能的方案中,尋找最好的那一個。

  ▌工程學 ABC

  ‧工程結構必知的「基本三力」(作用力、應力、應變)與「物質四特性」(剛性、強度、延展性、韌度)
  ‧「機械工程學」鑽研物體運動的最大極限,「結構工程學」鑽研如何讓物體不動如山
  ‧電池能發揮功用在於「腐蝕作用」
  ‧較硬的物質不一定堅固、較軟的物質不一定更具保護力──「震動頻率」的奧祕
  ‧如何讓阻礙滾動的「摩擦力」有效地協助滾動?
  ‧三角形比正方形更穩固
  ‧「一面」合格的現代牆壁其實有「四層」:隔水層、氣密層、隔熱層、防蒸氣層
  ‧平衡是一個動態而非靜止的狀態,工程結構平衡也是

  ▌認識你自己!工程師的科學定位

  ‧哲學家 → 對人類企圖背後的理想、意義、價值提出反思。
  ‧科學家 → 藉由實驗與假說來確立自然法則。
  ‧工程師 → 用已確立的科學原則來設計具有實際用途的物品。
  ‧技術員 → 用已知的方法檢查並解決問題。
  ‧使用者 → 渴望立即切入沒有延遲的使用體驗,通常只擁有極少的技術知識。

224 pages, Paperback

Published September 14, 2020

52 people are currently reading
214 people want to read

About the author

Matthew Frederick

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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
Profile Image for Mohan Vemulapalli.
1,085 reviews
November 6, 2023
In "101 Things I Learned in Engineering School " John Kupernas provides an accessible and interesting introduction to the foundational principles of the engineering disciplines. Focusing primarily on civil engineering this book provides a simplified, but not simplistic jumping off point for any one delving into the principles and science behind engineering for the first time or returning to them after a long hiatus. The short descriptions of principles and clear diagrams makes this book an excellent choice for anyone who needs to cover key concepts quickly. Obviously, this book will not impart a significant part of the engineering body of knowledge, but it will serve as a gateway for anyone who needs a good starting point. This book is recommended without reservations and is likely to be especially useful for those who are are interested in understanding what the field covers and how it works, those in adjacent fields who need a solid overview of the field and anyone who just wants to review foundational concepts without a lot of the associated math and science.
154 reviews16 followers
December 13, 2018
awesome flashback to my school days and a very healthy recap of the fundamental concepts that I learnt at school. I was happy to find out that I can 'feel' a lot of these concepts now instead of just know them in my head. Although most of the ideas are static loading concepts, it was an excellent review of real life applications and the many details that go into the wonderful constructions that we live amongst.
4 reviews
September 1, 2020
All the things I learned.

I feel like the author combined and condensed every engineering students notebooks from their bachelor's degree. It was great to go back in time and recall many things I learned and forgot. Great time.
62 reviews1 follower
February 8, 2020
Very good review and explanation of many engineering concepts. I wouldn't recommend it for reading straight through. But for reading a few pages a day it was quite enjoyable.
Profile Image for Michael.
36 reviews
June 21, 2024
Perhaps I simply learned different things in engineering school, but this book was not very insightful. As it was co-written by an architect, whose original book I very much enjoyed, the term "engineer" seems to lean heavily toward "civil engineer." While certainly important, more engineers (in the US) are electrical and computer (https://www.bls.gov/ooh/field-of-degr...). A bit more systems thinking and problem solving methods would have been at the top of my list.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews

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