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History of Engineering
Nestor L. Osorio and Mary A. Osorio
INTRODUCTION, HISTORY, AND SCOPE OF DISCIPLINE
According to the Oxford English Dictionary (1989), one of the rst uses of the word engineering in
the English language dates back to 1681; in 1729, Bernard Fores de Belidor published one of the rst
books with the word engineering in the title: La Science de Ingenieures. These are two literary indi-
cations that engineering began to solidify as a distinct profession during the Industrial Revolution.
There have been continuing discussions among experts about the differences and the denitions of
science, technology, and engineering. T