Engineering Design and Society

Abstract

As a discipline, engineering is rooted in mathematics and natural sciences; as a practice, it is social at its core. Social science is a more recent development than the society that it seeks to document and understand. Bringing social science into engineering design has its pros and cons. The consequences of design, especially at an aggregate or social level, are difficult to anticipate. Attempts to improve the design by engaging with the social science must, however, be moderated by the modest record of the latter in making out-of-sample predictions.