"The study of engineering history by the practitioners of engineering is not well developed. This is unfortunate, because, if nothing else, it is the 'culture' of our profession, but even more importantly, it provides us with a proper understanding of current and future engineering. Without an adequate historical background the engineer could, for example, respond incorrectly to problems that might arise in some device or make inappropriate changes in its design. History can also suggest the path that might be followed by a new product, and thereby guide its development and marketing. Because of the fuller appreciation of the art and science of engineering that is provided by an awareness of engineering history, it seems appropriate for the ASME to recognize its role in our profession."
— Euan F.C. Somerscales and A.A. Zagotta, preface, History of the Internal Combustion Engine, ICE-Vol. 8, proceedings of the Eleventh Annual Fall Conference of the ASME Internal Combustion Engine Division, Dearborn, Mich., Oct. 15-18, 1989
"The idea of history as primarily political history is giving way to a broader view of the subject in which the history of science and technology is treated as an essential element. Without the study of corporate histories, the story of science and technology in our century will be told inadequately or not at all. Should we permit such a deficiency to persist, we will be passing up an opportunity to place knowledge of industrial science where it belongs—in the mainstream of American intellectual thought. . . . The history of science and technology is a rapidly growing field. Its potential is so important in an advanced technological society that the National Endowment for the Humanities recently suggested that a course in the history of science and technology be a compulsory element of a liberal education. There is, I believe, a widening interest in the history of science. There exists an opportunity to have the story of our science told and assimilated by the next generation so that it becomes part of its world view."
— Excerpt from "The Value of History" by Edward G. Jefferson (1985 speech), pamphlet available from Chemical Heritage Foundation, 3401 Walnut Street, Ste. 460B, Philadelphia, PA 19104-6228, 215-898-4896, fax 215-898-3327.
"Technology and science suffer every time someone tries to tell their story with detached affect. If I ask you to write down my ideas, then my heart will not be in them. Worse yet, your heart won't be in them either. When that happens, technology and science become empty drums indeed. If you or I have ideas that're worth anything, we're obliged to write them down ourselves.
". . . Many fine technical writers do write about the work of others. But such people always write under their own names. In the end, every writer worth reading writes in the first person — maybe not in the matter of pronouns, but certainly in the matter of presence. At some level, every writer worth reading offers us the gift of self."
— John H. Lienhard, ASME Honorary Member, Engines of Our Ingenuity, No. 1047: "Who Writes Our Story?" (http://www.uh.edu/engines/epi1047.htm) The History and Heritage Committee helps "to raise the quality of the history to a new level and increase greatly its interest and apparent relevance to many engineers. This will require the recognition of a discipline of history and a willingness to deal thoughtfully and responsibly with the questions of values and meaning. The discipline of history involves analysis different in kind from that of the engineer; its variables cannot be quantified without distortion or impoverishment; and attempts to standardize analytical operations are destined to yield absurdities. History deals, moreover, with meanings and moral values. Whenever meaning and values are involved, honest [persons] of goodwill can differ, and varying interpretations will be made of the same event. Historical questions worth asking always have ambiguous answers, and the answers provide us not with conclusions as much as a basis for reflection and further discussion." — Eugene S. Ferguson, "A Sense of the Past"
"Only in the last few years have we begun to devote to the history of technology the attention it deserves, for this history, far more than that of kings or ministers, can help us to understand the social impact of technology, and perhaps assist us in setting our course for the future."
— Donald E. Marlowe, Past President of ASME, then chair of the History and Heritage Committee, before a joint committee (the Subcommittee on the Department of Interior and Related Agencies) of the United States Congress in April 1974.
"Future economic historians will find it remarkable that so little systematic attention was given by our generation to the sources of industrial innovation. For the first half of this century, it has seemed that technological advance was inevitable and that it was always good and that it was limitless. We are now aware that none of these statements is true. When limited human and material resources are deployed to provide maximum service, we find ourselves desperately seeking guidance from the past. . . .
"But this history is a fragile thing. The scholars of the Renaissance were fortunate in that Greek and Roman heritage was preserved in imperishable stone. The artifacts of the industrial revolution are mostly in wood and iron, whose survival will not exceed another hundred years. If we are to preserve the history of nineteenth century technology, it must be done now; either the artifacts themselves, or drawings and records of them, must be preserved now.
— Donald E. Marlowe, Past President (88th) of ASME, then chair of the History and Heritage Committee, before a joint committee (the Subcommittee on the Department of Interior and Related Agencies) of the United States Congress, encouraging continued government support of the Historic American Engineering Record (HAER), in April 1974.
Other expressions of why engineers are involved in history can be submitted to the History and Heritage Staff Liaison.
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