Well .. this topic might seem dated, it would have been fit for my engineering days, nevertheless the myth that I intend to clear is important for everyone in general . . . . Moreover I, being as passionate about electronics engineering as about management, couldn’t avoid writing about it after being instigated.
I was instigated when an electronics engineer herself said that electronics engineering has evolved from electrical engineering and the only basic branches of engineering are Mechanical, Civil and Electrical. To demystify this let me recount the history of engineering . .am sure hardly anybody has bothered to do that, but nevertheless its an interesting one to go through. . .
As most engineers are aware of, engineering is the successor of classical physics. It emerged from the field of Applied Physics, and even today both these fields run parallel; applied physicists discover principles and engineer apply them. Engineering initially started with civil engineering, then with the development of the steam engine (late 18th century) came ‘mechanical’ engineering. It was after the development of the steam ‘engine’ that the terms engine-er and engineering were coined. Later even construction specialists came to be known as Civil engineers.
Read more: http://www.his.com/~pshapiro/steam.engines.html
It took almost a century for the next field to come up. Though electricity was discovered by Benjamin Franklin as early as 1752, it was hardly of any use. The application of electricity could find an opening only after Michael Faraday discovered electromagnetism in mid 19th century. It took another 40 years for the first electrical engineers (Thomas Edison) to come up with a working generator. This was the beginning of electrical engineering which today comprises of activities of electricity generation, transmission and transformation. (PS: Transformation means using electricity to run machines etc – transform electrical energy to mechanical, chemical energy etc)
Read more: http://www.codecheck.com/pp_elect.html
While on one hand electrical engineers were busy with alternating current, at the same time some physicists were trying to understand the very electron which produced it; and they stumbled upon the Vacuum Tube - the first electronic device. It was now that the history of electronics began to evolve.
And now to put the records straight electronics was developed from concept of electron and flow of charge (which is not the same as flow of electricity) rather than the electromagnetic induction. Electronics has nothing to do with Faraday’s laws whatsoever, while the same laws form the very basic of electrical engineering.
In fact the most important difference between the fields of electrical and electronics is that electrical deals with alternating currents where as electronics with direct current. Electrical engineers are concerned with transformation of power; they operate in the scale of Volts and KVolts. Electronics engineers are concerned with the control of flow of charge and not power; the operation is in the range of microamperes(μA) and millivolts(mV). And so principaly electronics engineering has evolved directly from physics like all other 'basic' fields, validating the fact that eletronics too like mechanical, civil and electrical is a basic field of engineering . . .
Well.. believe that’s quite a lot . . . If I say more the facts might loose their effect. . . I hope the myth is cleared . . . all doubts and counterclaims are welcome . . . do feel free to comment ;))
I was instigated when an electronics engineer herself said that electronics engineering has evolved from electrical engineering and the only basic branches of engineering are Mechanical, Civil and Electrical. To demystify this let me recount the history of engineering . .am sure hardly anybody has bothered to do that, but nevertheless its an interesting one to go through. . .
As most engineers are aware of, engineering is the successor of classical physics. It emerged from the field of Applied Physics, and even today both these fields run parallel; applied physicists discover principles and engineer apply them. Engineering initially started with civil engineering, then with the development of the steam engine (late 18th century) came ‘mechanical’ engineering. It was after the development of the steam ‘engine’ that the terms engine-er and engineering were coined. Later even construction specialists came to be known as Civil engineers.
Read more: http://www.his.com/~pshapiro/steam.engines.html
It took almost a century for the next field to come up. Though electricity was discovered by Benjamin Franklin as early as 1752, it was hardly of any use. The application of electricity could find an opening only after Michael Faraday discovered electromagnetism in mid 19th century. It took another 40 years for the first electrical engineers (Thomas Edison) to come up with a working generator. This was the beginning of electrical engineering which today comprises of activities of electricity generation, transmission and transformation. (PS: Transformation means using electricity to run machines etc – transform electrical energy to mechanical, chemical energy etc)
Read more: http://www.codecheck.com/pp_elect.html
While on one hand electrical engineers were busy with alternating current, at the same time some physicists were trying to understand the very electron which produced it; and they stumbled upon the Vacuum Tube - the first electronic device. It was now that the history of electronics began to evolve.
And now to put the records straight electronics was developed from concept of electron and flow of charge (which is not the same as flow of electricity) rather than the electromagnetic induction. Electronics has nothing to do with Faraday’s laws whatsoever, while the same laws form the very basic of electrical engineering.
In fact the most important difference between the fields of electrical and electronics is that electrical deals with alternating currents where as electronics with direct current. Electrical engineers are concerned with transformation of power; they operate in the scale of Volts and KVolts. Electronics engineers are concerned with the control of flow of charge and not power; the operation is in the range of microamperes(μA) and millivolts(mV). And so principaly electronics engineering has evolved directly from physics like all other 'basic' fields, validating the fact that eletronics too like mechanical, civil and electrical is a basic field of engineering . . .
Well.. believe that’s quite a lot . . . If I say more the facts might loose their effect. . . I hope the myth is cleared . . . all doubts and counterclaims are welcome . . . do feel free to comment ;))
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