Engineering is not merely knowing and being knowledgeable1, like a walking encyclopedia2; engineering is not merely analysis; engineering is not merely the possession of the capacity to get elegant solutions to non-existent engineering problems; engineering is practicing the art of the organized forcing of technological3 change... Engineers operate at the interface4 between science and society...

　　Dean Gordon Brown

　　Engineering is the art of organizing and directing men and controlling the forces and materials of nature for the benefit of the human race.

　　Henry G. Stott, 1907

　　Engineering is a great profession. There is the satisfaction of watching a figment of the imagination emerge through the aid of science to a plan on paper. Then it moves to realisation in stone or metal or energy. Then it brings homes to men or women. Then it elevates the standard of living and adds to the comforts of life. This is the engineer's high privilege.

　　Herbert Hoover (1874 - 1964)

　　I don't care what it is, when it has an LCD screen, it makes it better.

　　Kevin Rose, Diggnation, Our Lip Dub5 Is Better Than Yours, 2008

　　Engineers participate in the activities which make the resources of nature available in a form beneficial to man and provide systems which will perform optimally6 and economically.

　　L. M. K. Boelter, 1957

　　The ideal engineer is a composite ... He is not a scientist, he is not a mathematician7, he is not a sociologist8 or a writer; but he may use the knowledge and techniques of any or all of these disciplines in solving engineering problems.

　　N. W. Dougherty, 1955

　　Engineering is an activity other than purely9 manual and physical work which brings about the utilization10 of the materials and laws of nature for the good of humanity.

　　R. E. Hellmund, 1929

　　Engineering is the professional art of applying science to the optimum conversion11 of natural resources to the benefit of man.

　　Ralph J. Smith

　　Engineering is the practice of safe and economic application of the scientific laws governing the forces and materials of nature by means of organization, design and construction, for the general benefit of mankind.

　　S. E. Lindsay, 1920

　　The engineer is the key figure in the material progress of the world. It is his engineering that makes a reality of the potential value of science by translating scientific knowledge into tools, resources, energy and labor12 to bring them into the service of man ... To make contributions of this kind the engineer requires the imagination to visualize13 the needs of society and to appreciate what is possible as well as the technological and broad social age understanding to bring his vision to reality.

　　Sir Eric Ashby

　　Engineering is the professional and systematic14 application of science to the efficient utilization of natural resources to produce wealth.

　　T. J. Hoover and J. C. L. Fish, 1941

　　Engineering is the science of economy, of conserving15 the energy, kinetic16 and potential, provided and stored up by nature for the use of man. It is the business of engineering to utilize17 this energy to the best advantage, so that there may be the least possible waste.

　　William A. Smith, 1908