Mechanical Engineering and Literacy

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Literacy and Mechanical Engineering: How Relatable and Relevant are They to Each Other Mechanical Engineering has been around for as long as man has kept record. The first known feat of basic engineering goes back to the simple, yet revolutionary design and invention of the wheel. It involves the use of physics, material sciences, calculus, and other types of math for analyzing, designing, manufacture, and maintenance of mechanical systems. It is so broad and vast that man-kind has used it for centuries before it actually emerged as a study around the 1800’s with the development in the field of physics. The field has greatly shaped society today and its technological advances throughout history and helped to achieve some of human-kinds greatest feats of all-time. The history of the mechanical engineering discipline dates to ancient Greece and China, where mechanisms like screw pumps, steam engines, clocks, seismometers, and even differential gears were invented. Chain drives, crankshafts, and camshafts all date to the Middle-Ages. Mechanical engineering turned very analytical and calculative during the 17th century with Newton’s Laws of Motion and the invention of calculus with the basis of physics. Not long after the 19th century started did the field really branch off as its own its own discipline with the start of manufacturing machines and engines to power them. By 1825, the U.S. already had three schools of engineering: the U.S. Military Academy, Norwich Univ., and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. The ASME(American Society of Mechanical Engineers) was formed in 1880 and still stands today. Everything education in mechanical engineering has been based on a strong foundation of mathematics and science. Mechanical engineering programs are offered all over the world at universities in almost every country and on average takes 4-6 years to earn a degree to
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