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Foundations of Engineering & Technology
Copyright Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc.
the need and desire to enhance human capabilities
through designing, creating, using, and evaluating
technologies to solve problems. Science is the
study of the natural world. Scientists obtain scien-
tifi knowledge by asking questions about natural fic
phenomena, designing and conducting research
experiments or scientifi investigations to collect fic
data about the phenomena, analyzing and inter-
preting the collected data, and then constructing
explanations of the phenomena, Figure  2-5.
Natural phenomena are any observable events
that happen in nature and are not human made.
Examples include wind, storms, tornadoes, and fog.
The result of these practices is the development of
new knowledge, scientific laws, and theories that fi
engineers use as a foundation for designing and
creating technology.
Scientifi practices are also used to evaluate the fic
effectiveness of a technological solution, meaning
how well a technology solves a particular problem.
These practices are also used to assess the impact
that technologies have on the natural environment.
To evaluate technologies, engineers and scien-
tists design and conduct tests and experiments.
These will determine if the technology meets speci-
fi ed goals and what effects the technology may have fi
on the environment in which it is used. In engi-
neering, tests are procedures designed to examine
a particular technological device to ensure it works
as designed and that it meets the desired specifica-fi
tions. Experiments are established research proce-
dures carried out in a controlled environment to
prove or disprove a hypothesis. A hypothesis is a
proposed explanation of a situation. For example, an
Engineering
• Engineering
Design
• Creativity
• Optimization
• Modeling
• Experimentation
• Investigations
• Questioning
• Explanations
• Computation
• Data Analysis
• Problem Solving
• Mathematical
Modeling
Mathematics Science
Technology
Uses and Informs Creates and Uses
Benefits Benefits
Studies
Applies Applies
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Develops
Designed
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Natural
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Goodheart-Willcox Publisher
Figure 2-4. Relationships between technology, engineering, science, and mathematics.