It is a great profession. There is the satisfaction of watching a
figment of the imagination emerge through the aid of science to a plan
on paper. Then it moves to realization in stone or metal or energy. Then
it brings jobs and homes to men. Then it elevates the standards of
living and adds to the comforts of life. That is the engineer's high
privelege.
The great liability of the engineer compared to men of
other professions is that his works are out in the open where all can
see them. His acts, step by step, are in hard substance. He cannot bury
his mistakes in the grave like the doctors. He cannot argue them into
thin air or blame the judge like the lawyers. He cannot, like the
architects, cover his failures with trees and vines.
He can not like politicians, screen his shortcomings by blaming his opponents and hope that the people will forget. The engineer simply cannot deny that he did it. If his works do not work, he is damned. That is the phantasmagoria that haunts his nights and dogs his days. He comes from the job at the end of the day resolved to calculate it again. He wakes in the night in a cold sweat and puts something on paper that looks silly in the morning. All day he shivers at the thought of the bugs which will inevitably appear to jolt his smooth consummation.
On the other hand, unlike the doctor his is not a life
among the weak. Unlike the soldier, destruction is not his purpose.
Unlike the lawyer, quarrels are not his daily bread. To the engineer
falls the job of clothing the bare bones of science with life, comfort
and hope.
No doubt as years go by people forget which engineer did
it, even if they ever knew. Or some politician puts his name on it. Or
they credit it to some promoter who used other peoples money with which
to finance it. But the engineer himself looks back at the unending
stream of goodness that flows from his successes with satisfactions that
few professions may know. And the verdict of his fellow professionals
is all the accolade he wants.
No doubt as years go by people forget which engineer did it, even if they ever knew. Or some politician puts his name on it. Or they credit it to some promoter who used other peoples money with which to finance it. But the engineer himself looks back at the unending stream of goodness that flows from his successes with satisfactions that few professions may know. And the verdict of his fellow professionals is all the accolade he wants.
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