iii Preface Technology: Engineering Our World is written to help you understand and contribute to the technological world around you. This book introduces you to the various technologies and shows how they have used basic scientifi c principles. First, you will study various methods of solving problems using a design process. Various chapters will introduce the major technologies: communication, manufacturing, construction, energy and power, transportation, robotics, and agricultural and bioengineering technologies. The importance of materials, structures, systems, energy, people, machines, and information to all technological activity will become clear as you study. You will also learn about job opportunities in technology. The technology of our earliest ancestors was very basic. Often, new developments affected only a small group of people. Because travel was limited, a new plow might be developed and used in only one village. Even so, life was improved for that village through greater crop yields. Technology today is usually more complicated. A technological decision might affect a whole city, a continent, or even the entire planet. Millions of people have experienced great changes in their lives as a result of new technology. Consider the technological products and services that affect your life. These may include computers, medicines, composites, microelectronics, biotechnology, and telecommunications, among others. In the near future, you are sure to see new inventions unheard of today. It is very important that you begin to understand technology so that you can make intelligent decisions about its use. While a new product or service may improve your life, you must consider its side effects. With the development of new technology comes the responsibility to control that technology so that no harm is done to humans, animals, or the environment. Your understanding of technology will help you care for our Earth and its people. In this way, you will help engineer our world. Your educated decisions will help provide a healthier environment. Technology is an exciting subject. It affects what you wear, how you travel, what you eat, how you communicate with others, the comfort of your home, and much more. Technology is improving at an incredibly fast pace and expanding to reach into new areas every day. This book is written to help you become more informed about and involved in technology and the world that is daily being shaped by it. John B. Gradwell Malcolm Welch