On Nov 9, 2013, at 12:41 PM, t.p. <daedulus@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: > > <tp> > > But we are NOT Engineers, just 'scientists, technicians and > programmers'. > > Seriously, I think that a lack of comprehension of the existence of > engineering is a major hindrance is some parts of the world, such as > where the Economist comes from. > > Tom Petch Popular media often has the mad scientist build a big machine in his secret lair in order to take over the world. So you can forgive the economist for not realizing that it is engineers who build machines. Perhaps this goes back to the Manhattan project, where the role of scientists was emphasized in popular culture.