Science, Society, and Software Engineering Part 1: Scientists at work and play
"Nothing exists from whose nature some effect does not follow."-Baruch Spinoza Scientists have a different perspective than engineers. I didn't realize there was a difference until now, not having much interaction with them as a contractor to the Military-Industrial Complex. There, the ratio was maybe one scientist per 50 engineers. Now employed at an academic institution, scientists outnumber engineers two to one. The characteristic difference between scientists and engineers may be identified in the difference of the nature of their work. Scientists identify patterns and relationships by studying the world, to validate and create theories. Engineers work with scientists in constructing the tools used to acquire, search, manipulate and maintain data, which in turn allows the scientists to formulate new theories, for which engineers create new tools to acquire new data from which scientists can identify new patterns and relationships – a never-ending cycle. There is one constant in engineering, whether working for the Military-Industrial Complex or for a research institution-engineers are second-class citizens. " They " (the scientists, systems engineers, or managers) specify the work to be done, and " we " (the engineers of various specialties) design, build, test, integrate and maintain. There may be differences in how well second-class citizens are treated, however. From my albeit limited experience, engineers are better treated in academia than their counterparts in for-profits. At for-profits, employees seem to be constantly reminded by their bosses of Machiavelli's advice to princes, " it is better to be feared than loved. " In academia, the word " colleague " seems to have real meaning, and engineers good-naturedly refer to their scientists as " our scientists. " Outside of academia, do engineers use a tone other than sarcasm when talking of " our managers " ? So, I'm in a semi-weekly staff meeting to get the scientists to talk about what they are doing, else we, the staff, would never know. I volunteered to organize the meetings after a two-year hiatus where the meetings were not held at all because the scientists seemed to be always too busy. Coordination is simple: I schedule a room every other week; ask a secretary to prepare coffee; and I pick up donuts on the day of the meeting. After the meeting starts, I keep track of the time so that it doesn't go too far past an hour – everyone gets antsy when forced to sit too long. …