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I really enjoyed reading Engineering & The Mind’s Eye by Eugene Ferguson. The book talks about the role of the mind’s eye in the history of engineering. I learned a lot from this book and I was surprised at some of the things I found out about the state of engineering. I like how Ferguson wants engineering curriculum to go back to making visual artist and versus just people who deal with CAD programs and math. If you think about it, the creators of great buildings and monuments had to first visualize their thoughts by transferring their ideas to paper. I like the idea of sketch talking, sketching an object and sending it to a creative partner and having that creative partner sketch on your sketch and send the sketch back.

I like how Ferguson intertwines the invention of the printing press into his analysis.  Before the press most engineering diagrams were copied by hand, this resulted in small changes in the diagrams that would lead to things being “lost.” I also love how some engineers would create design programs, designing a bunch of products with seemingly minute changes and selecting the ones that worked during their ethos. The rest of the designs would sometimes be created later down the line when society is ready. I like Ferguson’s argument of how form does not follow function, he wants you to think about the development of the steam engine. Overall its a good read and it will make you want to visualize things more in your mind versus words or some shoddy CAD program.

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