Reflection

Abstract

Accounts of both engineering and ethics tend to be written in rather formal technical prose. A major advantage of such prose is that it facilitates great conceptual precision in communication between specialists familiar with the terminology used. A serious disadvantage of such prose is that as it develops in sophistication it can become increasingly less concrete. In particular, the terminology can disguise the real human significance of the issues discussed. This chapter provides expressions of issues related to the use of engineering using forms of the written word that are more evocative than formal technical prose. It also provides corresponding expressions of attitudes related to the aspirational engineering ethos to be presented in the subsequent chapters.