ReMaking History, Volume 3, 1st Edition

Chapter 9 Joseph McKibben and the Air Muscle

As we’ve seen, the roots of modern engineering emerged in the 19th century. In 1828, an early association of engineers in the United Kingdom, called the UK Institution of Engineers, wrote that the goal of every engineer was to “[direct] the great sources of power in nature for the use and convenience of man.”

Since then, engineers and scientists have continued to make wonderful, constructive devices that make life better for people who are sick and disabled. Not nearly as often, they design and build weapons and implements of warfare. And once in a while, the same person does both.

McKibben and ...