The Past Half Century of Engineering--And a Look Forward

Engineering is poised to make an even greater contribution to society in the next half century than it has made in the past half century. At its annual meeting on September 28-29, 2014, the National Academy of Engineering celebrated the 50th anniversary of its founding. A highlight of the meeting was a forum of distinguished speakers who considered the achievements of the last 50 years and looked toward the potential achievements of the next 50. The Past Half Century of Engineering - and a Look Forward summarizes their presentations.

Table of Contents


Front Matter
1 Learning from Adversity: Innovation on the Final Frontier
2 Earth as a Resource
3 The Seeds of the Internet - and Its Future
4 The Great Engineering Advances of the 21st Century
5 Energy in the 21st Century
6 Engineering and Medicine
7 Fifty Years of Materials Science
8 Expanding the Community of Innovators
Appendix A: Forum Agenda
Appendix B: Biographical Information