Building a Cathedral without Science or Mathematics: The Engineering Method Explained
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- Опубликовано: 9 май 2024
- Bill reveals the long-lost methods used by Medieval engineers to design stone cathedrals. Methods that required no science, mathematics, or literacy, yet which reveal the engineering method.
Learn More: Companion Book
Explore the ideas in this video series further with its companion book: The Things We Make: The Unknown History of Invention from Cathedrals to Soda Cans (ISBN 978-1728215754)
www.amazon.com/Things-We-Make...
Other Videos in this Series
Episode 2: Controlling Turbulence and Evolution: How Engineers Overcome Uncertainty • Controlling Turbulence...
Episode 3: The Steam Turbine: The Surprising Relationship of Engineering & Science • The Steam Turbine: The...
Episode 4: The Microwave Oven Magnetron: What an Engineer Means by “Best” • The Microwave Oven Mag...
Video Summary
0:00 Titles
0:07 Intro
In this first video of the series Bill notes that the engineering method is among the the oldest of human responses to fulfill human needs.
0:28 Göbekli Tepe
Bill illustrates this with a brief discussion of the ruins of Göbekli Tepe, a stone structure in southeastern Turkey built thousands of years before Stonehenge and the pyramids. A structure whose use and purpose remains mysterious. The age of Göbekli Tepe highlights that engineering existed long before science - at least what we mean by “science” today.
0:56 Precision of Göbekli Tepe
The precision of the placement of the stones in the ruin and their manner of preparation indicate that it is an engineered object.
2:39 Do Engineers Need Science?
This leads to the question “Do engineers need science to create.” To answer that question Bill considers the design of Sainte-Chapelle - a stunning thirteenth century stone building. He notes that it was designed and built - as were all medieval cathedrals - by mason who knew no science, or mathematics and who could not even read, nor did they have a measuring stick.
3:13 Gothic Cathedrals: Light
The medieval engineers strive to build cathedrals that could house large stained glass windows that could let in sunlight.
3:54 Pointed Arches
Medieval masons used pointed arches in their cathedrals to create high ceilings.
4:16 Pointed vs Circular Arches
The pointed arch allowed mason to build higher ceiling using less stone, as clearly seen in comparing Sainte-Chapelle to the Pantheon in Rome.
5:00 Width Circular Arch
The width of the circular arch grows proportional to its height.
5:29 Width Pointed Arch
The width of a pointed arch doesn’t expand because the pointed arch changes shape as it grows taller.
5:39 Proportional Rule
Bill explains that these early engineers used a “rule of thumb” inherited from antiquity - one used to build Roman buildings like the Pantheon - to size the supporting walls underneath the arches. The rule was simple: The width of the supporting wall should be between a fifth and a fourth of the arch’s span.
6:51 How Medieval Engineers Sized Walls
These early engineers could not perform the mathematics needed to implement this rule, so, as Bill demonstrates, they turned this into an action that required no calculation or measurement with a marked rule.
9:06 Why Arch Divided into Three Section
As Bill notes, this is just how the geometry works out. It is the same rule as used to size the supporting wall for a semi-circular arch.
9:52 Rule of Thumb
A rule of thumb is the heart of the engineering method: it allowed the masons to build without understand at a deep level the properties of stone or knowing mathematics.
10:29 The Engineering Method
This is defined as “Solving problems using rules of thumb that cause the best change in a poorly understood situation using available resources.” That’s a sharp contrast with the scientific method, because these rules of thumb are only guides that offers a high probability of success, but no guarantee.
10:40 Rule of Thumb Never Disproved
And, unlike a scientific theory, a rule of thumb is never, in a sense, disproved. That hundreds of cathedrals are still around today, standing for eight or nine hundred years is proof. Instead of being disproved, this rule of thumb for stone became outdated, not wrong, as iron and steel I-beams replaced stone.
11:10 Do Engineers Still Use Rules of Thumb?
Bill considers the question “is engineering based on rules of thumb antiquated in our scientific age?” He notes that that line of thought misunderstands the purpose of the engineering method, which is to solve practical problem before we have full scientific knowledge.
11:33 Next Video
Bill notes that in the next video he’ll explore how engineers work their way around that lack of scientific understanding, how they overcome uncertainty.
11:45 End Titles 
Наука
The enlightened one has returned
Praise be!
I'm so glad that he's returned. 🎉
Hallelujah
As it was foretold
A glorious day!
I'm so freaking hyped that you're making new content. I'm glad you are doing well.
Many of us owe you a lot
I'm in my mid-30s now....and when I started watching your stuff ... Back when you first started making videos...I had followed a path of strictly woodworking and being in business for myself dealing antique instruments. Always hated and avoided a lot of engineering things especially electronics and such.
But somehow fell backwards into systems engineering specializing in metrology equipment troubleshooting and repair. And your content was a huge part in making me see the world that way and find those things interesting. A huge part
Thank you for telling me this!
@@engineerguyvideo You really are a favourite content maker. Your microwave video alone has been invaluable to me in helping explain to people how they work.
Not used to seeing "content" used positively, it's always seemed like a negative word. I guess words change
You said what I came to say!
@@whoccc agreed. I try using it more positively when I can. But it's rare. Content has turned into something to be quickly packaged up and sold on to viewers.... With little or no thought put in. Which obviously isn't the case here.
The type of stuff mr. Bill has put out over the years... Grabbed a lot of folks attention and drove them into a totally new direction in academia and beyond.
Very few if any creators have had a similar effect on me and people I know. Maybe folks like mr. Carlson's lab, maybe some of Tom Scott's stuff. AvE....ect. hell I even know a few guys that got into electrical engineering.... straight up because of big Clive and his videos and talks about his experience getting into electrical engineering work. Same with "diode gone wild."
So many difficult and negative things online. So it really makes it special when somebody like Bill comes along. The shining Star in a sea of darkness and filth.
Edit (no judgment.....I enjoy the filth just as much as the next guy from time to time.....🤘 But every now and then we need to clear motivation and guiding light)
The reason the Scientific Method is often pointed to to explain why the Engineering Method exists is because Science is literally just trying things and documenting results in the search of a pattern.
The Engineering Method, meanwhile, takes known information and pieces them together into the most optimal configuration.
One discovers stuff. The other makes that stuff useful.
Mathematics meanwhile meshes perfectly into making sure the science and engineering can be more precise.
Also reappliable. Mathematics is very good at helping us map solutions and findings from one field onto another field of scientific study.
" and documenting results in the search of a pattern" - The pattern is key, it's the point at which science becomes useful. A big part of science is the development of theoretical models that help to explain the pattern, so that the theory can be used to make predictions. It's the predictions that set engineering apart from following well-established conventions.
reminds me of my spectroscopy professor explaining a componenet of a spectrometer being amazed at it "this piece of just shaped metal with mirrors magically allows us to capture and visualize quantum effects. It's just mirrors and bent metal. I could have never made this. Only engineers somehow do."
@@grantm6514cogently said
I disagree. Science is the search for a pattern derived from basic understanding of events. Engineering is deriving rules for action from trying ideas.
Science is "this is why X happens" Engineering is "this is how you can make X happen".
Science does not work with trial and error, science works by observing, making up a rule, and then testing it.
Engineering works with trial and error, engineering works by testing things, observing, and then making up a rule.
I am a practicing structural engineer, in continuous practice 40 years since I graduated from a prestigious university.
For years I’ve been interested in the design of arches, but nearly every reference or text I’ve seen used modern beam theory to explain how to design one. When these great structures were constructed, there was no ‘beam theory’, or the calculus used to find solutions to design problems using it.
Yet those medieval structures stand, for millennia in some cases.
Thank you for starting to describe the methods used by those very early masons and designers. It is very valuable, at least to this engineer.
Your new learnt knowledge will be wasted. What a very sad thing.
His claims are bullshit.
@@hans-joachimbierwirth4727
Wdym?
It's all a grand conspiracy and these buildings were built using advanced mathematics?
Or are you saying these cathedrals aren't as old as we're told and bound to collapse soon?
Even for you, I betcha you were not using finite elements and CAD for stress-strain analyses 40 years ago. It is known that when thermal machines were invented in England, the science of thermodynamics had not yet been established. However, the Romans had a type of theodolite, an instrument used by surveyors today. Romans certainly had professional engineers, craftsmen, and knowledge of mathematics and design methods
How the heck did that 12 minute video only take 2 minutes to watch?!? What a master at captivating an audience and explaining complex ideas so simply that even I can understand them! Bravo good sir.
That's kind of your to say (and much appreciated); we spend a lot of time working out the "structure" the "flow" of the video ... actually (and I mean this) use some insights from a creator of South Park!
@@engineerguyvideo Well the time spent is clearly paying off. And south park, while crude on the surface, is actually one of the smartest shows on TV.
@engineerguy
I am liking the south park style illustration:)
6x speed
@@k90v85 LOL!!!
This is near to my heart, for many years I was a pipe organ builder, and methods like this were used to build those fantastically effective and sophisticated devices before we had any deep scientific understanding of the fluid dynamics and acoustic science and mechanical disciplines which underpin them. Centuries of refinement of the rules of thumb in organ building honed them to such degree that most of them have gone right on being used as the standards even as the scientific and analytical tools have became ubiquitous. Thanks so much for this!
wow, you should make some videos, tell us more about the workings of pipe organs.
Pipe organ videos FTW!
You should take a look @lookmomnocomputer. He's rebuilding one...
VanHelsing - I absolutely love lookmumnocomputer, but that energy is so much different from this lol
As a structural engineer my mind is absolutely blown! I have always wondered how they were able to create those stunning pieces of architecture without highly complex math. Never heared any explanation on this topic in university either. Thank you very much for this enlightening insight!
Methods like this are still used in my field of carpentry evert day! It's pretty neat. I have to admit I have a hard time believing they had no math at all though. Or measuring tools- even if you don't have a standard Imperial foot across the Continent, you can still have a standardized foot across one jobsite.
I've won 1st place in my small class of into engineering, making a bridge,
Point is
I too noticed a golden ratio of perfect rational fractions like flash cards type, that made it simple=light & evenly loaded=compression& tension(pulling). In a basic bridge making site, which was the given HW site for the whole class.
The chicken egg is a marvel of nature, the principle of cupola, you can not break it by applying pressure on the longitudinal axis; the fiber of cobweb is stronger than steel!!!
Ever heard of Islamic golden age? The arch looks like from Ibn Tulun Mosque.
Hey just a quick question of advice, a general answer is really all I'm hoping for but if you can elaborate a little further it'd be greatly appreciated, I'm a 20 year old high-school drop out working in an insulation plant and making just enough to get by and help my wife start and run an online business (she works part time as well) and while it's currently nowhere near possible, (assuming we start making a considerable amount more over the next few years) should I look into engineering as a career path? I have all of the aspects I hear are common of good engineers such as a strong natural curiousoty in the things in my daily life, machines (especially vehicles), man-made structures, good intuition, and a very good eye for figuring out the physics in all kinds of scenarios, ect. Sound great right? Except... I'm TERRIBLE at math. I'm very dismissive of my own abilities so I threw out the idea a long time ago but the more I seek out content like this the more it feels kind of like a calling. I feel like these days with any form of calculator at our fingertips I could make it pretty far but without one I'm dead in the water, and I feel like that would completely disqualify me in alot of fields and even schools. I'd like to think that raw skill or intellect in other areas could overcome this but like I mentioned, I don't have much faith in myself being too particularly special other than friends and family seeming to constantly reassure me that I'm very bright, that I just didn't "apply myself" when In reality my dropout was mostly just a lack of will to keep pushing as my parent's divorce was very disruptive to my mental health (sorry for the life story, just feel it appropriate for context) So yeah, is my mathematic weakness a valid reason to not pursue this career or is it possible that one could offset this?
“I never worked out why, geometrically, that works- because it doesn’t matter”
I love this a lot. You don’t have to understand why it works, you just have to know that it works. It’s the same reason you can be an electrician without being a quantum physicist
It's simply magic :)
lol
I think they just played with small models like you would with CAD & just proportionally expand it to what ever size you'd like. :)
You still need to verify that it works though with lots and lots of experiments. This is also how electricity was discovered before we knew about electrons and basic atomic theory: lots of experiments and writing down the results.
There are two types of bad engineers.
1. Those who waste time trying to come up with the technically perfect answer.
2. Those who blindly use their tools.
1 wastes time and money, 2 is dangerous.
You need to understand what's in your toolbox, and what the limitations of each tool are before you use them. Good engineering is engineering plus risk management... "if I'm wrong which of these tools will make me wrong in a conservative or mitigatable manner "
What I think is beauty in engeenering is that a engeneer/theoric can deduct general rules and a engeneer/applied can create simple models. With this simple models the common electrician can work within a security margin with not deep knowledge
@@driatrogenesis quantum mechanics explains how electromagnetic fields behave and interact with matter, and why specific materials are better or worse at conducting electricity than other materials
There are other fields that explain different aspects of the topic, but the point is that you don’t need to have absolute knowledge of a topic in order to apply it to the tasks at hand.
I look at the world differently after watching your videos. The can engineering is one of my favorites, with every curve and angle purposely decided on. Helped me see that a lot of the design choices for other areas like construction or even bike design aren't just about asthetics and how something as simple as the shape can help strengthen or improve something.
I trained as an associate electrical engineer and worked in the field for many years, but never had the engineering method explained to me. With so much emphasis nowadays on data and science it escapes people (even us engineers) that these rules of thumb, as explained so well by Bill here, are at the core of the built world of ours. I sometimes find myself immobilized trying to build something in adherence to strict scientific principles, when all that is needed is to keep the end in mind and create the best change using the available resources. Practicality over (but not excluding) theory is at the heart of engineering.
I can easily see this series being used in classrooms in the future, just like those classic informational videos from the 90s, and this is honestly amazing. Glad you're back!
Great to have you back, Bill. I'm not an engineer. I have just always loved learning about how things work and how they're built
That MAKES you an engineer.
That makes you more of an engineer that just does it cuz they have to, you're doing homework for fun RN, instead of having to be told to so!!!!!!
@@SoloPilot6
Not if you don't build things
@@BirdTurdMemes A lot of engineers don't build things. The construction is actually only one of many engineering tasks, from parts fabrication to repair.
I have been a fan subscribed and waiting for a video ever since the aluminum can episode, the way you teach has an almost asmr like aspect and its very thoughtful and full of information presented in a way thats not overwhelming kudos sir can’t wait
Thank you ... I hope this meets that standard ...
Lol same, almost 2 years ago now.
I cannot even begin to express how ecstatic I am that the engineer guy has made a return. This man is surely the definition of quality over quantity
@@engineerguyvideoyou are the standard
Grateful that youve decided to upload new content!
I realize that IRL takes priority but when i say "Thanks for coming back!" I speak for many. 😉
Creating this videos is important part of what I like to do ... the pandemic shut everything down ... happy to be back.
@@engineerguyvideo happy to have you back!
Bill, it's so great to see you back on RUclips with new videos, diving deep in the engineering history and method
I wonder about the process of developing one of these heuristics. Was it one person or dozens who were able to identify a possible solution to a problem and then refine that possible solution by successive approximation, until the result stopped improving. Did it happen quickly or over scores of years? What about the initial inspiration to try that type of solution to the problem. Fascinating. Thank you for this story.
Worst case: ask the same question about the creation of human beings . . .
@@QED_creation lmao
It would be helpful if the presenter provided some references that explain now he knows that these techniques were actually used. As it stands, we have know idea how or if he knows that this was actually the method used by the cathedral's builders or if the presenter is merely guessing.
@rustyshimstock8653 The book contains the references …. This is a companion video to the book …
Well, then the book is as misleading as the video is. You clearly don't know what you're talking about. @@engineerguyvideo
Thank you for posting such wonderful, informative and interesting content for so long! it's nice to see you posting after three years. Your videos started my interest in engineering and well... everything you've talked about! once again, thank you so much!
Thank you for sharing this! Much appreciated.
Not only that, the mediaeval cathedrals were/are acoustic marvels as well as visual masterpieces. Amazing stuff.
That's also a really great point, i wonder if it gave it more bass, & likely reverb. :)
Catholic Church science
"Dark ages" produced the most beautiful structures made by man
@@pedrobolsi8366
They weren’t particularly dark even in Western Europe, you didn’t have any cities on the same level as ancient Rome in terms of population, but by about the eighth century and especially during the high middle ages there was a enormous amount of art, music, philosophy, and of course, engineering coming out of Western Europe Most of it sponsored by the church, monks got up to some crazy stuff back then.
@allthenewsordeath5772 the splendor of Europe flourished during" the dark ages" the propaganda is against the Catholic church, Mother of Western culture!!!
You may be the only PhD holder I ever heard who speaks with clarity and meaningful purpose.
I've always been taught that engineering is the practical application of science, so this was a really interesting perspective.
You were taught right!!!
I mean, it is, or at least nowadays is. Whether or not it always was depends on how you define science. If you define science as the discovery of knowledge, then all these ancient engineers were still applying science, as somebody had to first discover that knowledge.
Sure, but if the definition involves a fundamental understanding than engineers are not applying science. I would not on this day and age call observation of a phenomena “science.” That said, the real point here is this: The notion that detailed scientific understands occurs, THEN engineers apply it - with the word ‘apply’ not thought out, but containing the implication of ‘merely’ apply - is surely wrong.”
It's not a bad definition, but I'd say it is incomplete. More accurate to say that science and maths are tools in the engineers toolbox that can be used to solve the problem. But then so are things like "rule of thumb" and "accepted precedent", and "if all else fails, make it thicker". Engineering USES science, but existed before it, as the examples given illustrate.
I wasn't sure if I could care about how arches were designed hundreds of years ago when your video began. Then your demo of how an arch was drawn without math sold it. Thank you Bill and welcome back!
When I learned that I was stunned ... to turn a mathematical operation into an action.
You never learned that. You pulled it out of your lazy ass. It is 100% stupid bullshit!@@engineerguyvideo
Yes!! One of the best presenters on RUclips is back at it. I have loved your previous videos and even rewatched some of them. Tremendous respect for your fine-honed craft of teaching and explaining complex ideas in accessible ways.
Fabulous! I have used various rules of thumb taught to me by 'old guys' on job sites. Often they are 'tricks' or shortcuts in math that lend themselves to fine quality without some of the complexity that more formal methods utilize. In other words, sometimes there is a hack that produces equal quality at a significant savings in time... if it meets code it's good to go.
Interesting talk and I really like how you could effectively show the beautiful structure of the cathedral ( I didn't fully realize that they were effectively all glass walls on all sides from the engineering point of view)
I'm so grateful you're still making content!
I seem to remember in one of the last videos, you showed your kid running around, so I know you've had alot on your plate, but it means so much to us to see you still sharing your love for learning with us! I've learned SO much from this channel, and dozens of times over the years, it's been the perfect recommendation to friends to explain a subject! The aluminum can and Nitinol videos are two I legitimately share and explain on a regular basis!
Happy to have you back! A friend of mine from college showed me your channel several years ago (and Numberphile). Truly refreshing to have a new series from you. Brings back many happy memories.
great stuff, definitely feeling a philosophical touch to it. it's evident you're very passionate about the things you discuss and i can't wait to watch more.
Thank you so much for making this video! I straddle the world between science and engineering and have had many times had arguments about "rules of thumb" with reference to my findings. After being sent to a quick start course on chemical engineering, I finally understood where my colleagues were coming from and how to explain where the intersection of science and engineering can be used to enhance both fields.
Rules of thumb were not used for cathedrals, and no one ever built walls that thick. This video is full of stupid bullshit.
Oh I love geometry. You can do amazing things with just a ruler and a compass (or if you want to go all the way to the basics really just a piece of string and lines in the sand) I'm currently studying to become a master carpenter and here in germany we still learn those old methods in addition to more "modern" ones like trigonometry and also CAD. It's really a journey through mathematics from antiquity to modern times. Quite fascinating when you can appreciate it.
✨Stereotomy✨
@SovereignStorm- best of luck in your study of carpentry. I’ve found it to be an interesting and satisfying craft. Have you followed the progress of the rebuilding of Notre Dame ? A really cool project there.
@@fellspoint9364 thank you. I haven't actually followed Notre Dame. But bow that you've mentioned it I think I will. Don't know why I didn't. It seems quite obvious now 😅
Honestly I consider geometry the analog form of mathematics.
So happy to see you return! Your videos on everyday objects are annual viewing material for me. Your way with words and ideas make the unseen complexity of everyday objects simple to understand.
Spent much of my youth studying math and science in college. I'm now an electrician. I didn't have a word for it until now, but adopting this Engineering Method was something of a hurdle for me at first. But now that I've ingrained it I'm faster, waste less, and have higher quality results. Sure, I can do the math to find the center of a room, but it's faster to simply snap chalk lines corner to corner (not to mention this naturally accounts for areas that are out of square). I can do all all kids of fancy trig and calculus, but it's always easier and less error prone to simply use rules of thumb or templates.
Great video! glad to see you're making stuff again.
The clarity of this delivery is unsurpassed. Brilliant!
I was subscribed precisely so I wouldn't miss an upload in case it happened years later. The time has come, and it did not disappoint. The Engineer Guy hasn't missed a beat.
This video reminds me so much of my dad; he was a pattern maker for 25 years and has been a carpenter for most of his life. He knows a lot of math and trig, but only enough to get the job done. If there's a way to do something practically that "just works" he'll choose that method every time, but keeps his math skills in his back pocket for the situations where that's the better option.
I remember him teaching me how to find the center of a circle once when we were making a mold for a circular foundation: he put a stake in the ground at one point on the circle with a rope that was the radius of the circle long tied to it and walked to the rough center and scratched an arc in the sand. He did that two more times at two other points on the circumference and told me that the point where the three lines intersected was the center. Blew my mind how quick and easy it was. Great video! Glad to see you back and can't wait to check out the book! :D
So great to have you back mate! I could listen to you talk for hours! Great job!
I discovered this channel yesterday. I wish it would have been earlier, this is fantastic content, and ahhh, the diction, voice, tone and eloquence of @engineerguy is delightful. Thank you, my best wishes from Colombia, I'll get up to date and will look forward for more content.
P.d. The video about soda cans is also very good.
Good to see you back! As an automotive engineering technologist I thoroughly enjoy your method of presentation and explanation. Thank you Bill!
I'm extremely happy to see you creating RUclips videos again. I've always enjoyed your straightforward way of explaining things.
This video taught me something I didn't even know I didn't know! Afterwards, I followed a link to a National Geographic video about Brunelleschi's dome on the Florence cathedral. It was especially fascinating to watch in the light of this video. To begin with, the octangular base (already built before Brunelleschi was tasked with the dome) was so imperfect, that it lacked an accurate center point!
Very interesting. I wish I'd seen this 5 days ago. Mainly as I would like to have asked how you feel this applies, or not, in the later Gothic cathedrals. Where the ever increasing heights involved and the desire for lace like clerestories required thinning walls and external buttressing. Funnily enough I hadn't come across this one before and have now added it to my mental collection.
As a stonemason I never tire of things that can be done with compass, straight edge and a bit of string! Thank you.
Good to see you back Bill, and I'm looking forward to seeing what you have for us. I always found your videos interesting and your clear concise presentation makes them all the more watchable.
Hey Bill, great video. Back in grad school, I TA'd a course about practical experimentation to third-year engineering students. One thing we focused on was the importance of making definite statements even in the presence of uncertainty. I'm really looking forward to the next video, I'm sure it'll be fascinating.
That sounds like a class I wish I had taken
A stunning video! I would love to see more of these heuristics! I’m excited about the rest of the videos in this series. Thank you!
Thank You for bringing a different perspective without condescension or an agenda. Learning is it’s own reward and your videos are very rewarding in their own right. Thank You and please keep them coming
Excellent work, as usual. Your scripts and delivery are so effortless, belying the work and experience that you put into your videos. Carpentry and woodworking are, to this day, full of these shortcuts, which is of course your point! Learning these types of things and understanding their importance makes work flow. Cheers Bill!
The irony of you using the word "effortless". Look up the definition of the word "science" and prepare to be disappointed. It's pretty difficult to argue that they DIDN'T use science to some degree, once you are aware of the definition of the word "science". If he had put more effort into this video, he wouldn't have embarrassed himself.
Hi Bill, I’ve been watching your videos since I was a kid and theyve always been equally fascinating and inspiring. Im now majoring in electrical engineering at nyu, and i couldnt be happier. Thank you for sparking my curiosity for engineering, and for continuing to make fantastic content after all this time ✌️
I see what you did there 😉
Bill, I really missed your videos. I’m so glad that you’re posting again!
A very informative video. The line "...to solve practical problem before we have full scientific knowledge." is the essence of engineering and engineers. Engineers make things happen in place of letting things happen. Sometimes the engineers need to learn about themselves to become better than before. Thank you for sharing.
One of the senior guys at the first engineering office I worked at had this framed on his wall: "Engineering is the art of molding materials we do not fully understand, into shapes we can not precisely define, to withstand forces we can not completely assess, in such a manner that the public at large has no reason to suspect the extent of our ignorance".
Thank you for the video, and thank you for explaining the fundamentals of the Engineering Method. This is something that for all of our talk about "science" in popular culture these days, too few understand.
I don't want that senior guy building a bridge I will step on. Engineering is not the art of hiding your own ignorance from the public. On the contrary it's the art of showing the public you put enough safety margin to cover for the things you don't understand and keep them safe.
I can't believe how you and your production team can have the same awesome feel to the storytelling ,, great work Bill
Great to see you back again! Your description of heuristics at the end really resonated with me - the same approach applied in my work (a very different field) but I hadn't thought to articulate it in the same way. The rule of thumb your illustrated so well with the rope - is that a documented approach we know those builders used, or is it a reverse-engineered finding of the ratio of wall thickness to arch size?
this is platform's finest engineering vids. It was so worth the wait having you back
When I tell people about this channel I've been having to add "...but he doesn't seem to post videos anymore" -- SO glad to see you're back!
As always: it's a pleasure to watch and learn. You have been missed sir.
Came to watch this video purely by accident, and was stunned by the beauty and cleareness of the presentation, the calm tone and the overall quality of this video.
Subscribed, and can't wait to dig in your archive of probably very interesting videos. Thank you!
Thank you for the kind words
I started watching your videos in HS and you inspired me to pursue architecture and in a few days I’m about to graduate with my masters in architecture. Good timing.
I can tell this is going to be an incredible series. Thank you so much!
Currently procrastinating on my space systems engineering class and find it funny how, even though I am determining design choices analytically, the many equations being used still have a strong heuristic aspect to them. Aerospace engineering is a very, very young field after all, so its not surprising that a lot of what I am doing still boils down to very powerful "rule of thumb" equations. I was very happy to see this in my feed. Your influence stretches far beyond what you can possibly know.
I'm mesmerized! It is this kind of knowledge that I seek and happen to not find in college at all... Thank you for sharing! Your videos are rare prime content. Much love from Brazil!
First vid in a new series and it's already a gem. Very interesting questions being asked, loving it.
How I've missed seeing your content, Bill.
Thank you for your time! I'm so grateful for you, your wisdom, knowledge, and critcally, your desire to share it us.
Truly cannot thank you enough.
You are back and im very thankful for this, engineering is so damned interesting when someone who knows can explain it. I didnt have a single clue about this prior to watching the video, so thank you so much!
Your videos make me feel like a student in a class who is very engaged in the lesson. Absolutely enjoy learning from your videos.
Your aluminum can video remains perhaps my favourite example of serious, informed, but fun and engaging explanation in a medium (RUclips) susceptible to being quite the opposite. You really set a standard, and this new series is very exciting to me.
This video has given me some food for thought. I don't think I've ever heard the engineering method articulated that way.
Also, glad to see more videos are coming. Are you planning a series and then another break or ongoing videos?
this building method was science. It was tried and tested and withstood time. They used the science of the gothic building method to erect the biggest structures of the medieval ages.
Exactly so, trial and error, the essence of the scientific method. And lots of them fell down and had to be rebuilt either more strongly or on a different principle, as at Ely.
Thank you, it had to be said. Suggesting that the masons didn't know Mathematics is just lack of knowledge of how mathematics looked in middle ages. It was all constructions. Copernicus calculated orbits by drawing crazy pictures and constructing relationships between lengths. Those masons knew their maths very well, it's us who are not familiar with their language.
This was beautiful!
Engineer guy was one of my first yt subscriptions years ago, I remember the engineering of a can to the physics of a flame, so happy to see it again
I didn't know Professor Hammack started posting videos again and I'm so happy I rediscovered this channel. One of the very best on RUclips.
It's so great to have your content again. Your calm and concise teaching method is wonderful. Thank you for always making me feel the joy and wonder of my profession.
Es flyer.!!!
I love how this video explicates the gap between know-how and scientific theory. I happen to love learning about science, math, and other theoretical frameworks, but we're doing ourselves a disservice by confusing the aims of theory (explanatory models) and engineering (building better things). These things definitely interact in interesting ways, but they should be seen as different.
Love this, everyone of your videos is awesome, glad you're back!
Ive just found your channel. I am amazed by this video and look forward to watching all your content and im going to buy your book as well. Wow! Thanks
The legend returns! I'm stoked to see the next video.
The method of laying out the width of the walls with the rope that you explain here reminds me of so many little tricks that I learned when I trained as a draftsman.
Indeed ... very much related ... I'd guess that this Medieval engineering has more in common with drafting than with structures as taught in civil engineering today!
Great stuff! Hope to see even more videos from you soon!
I believe part of the confusion between the scientific and the engineering method comes from the fact that in practice, these methods are often applied together by the same people. For example, let's say you test some equipment in a vacuum chamber. Some anomaly occurs in the test setup which cannot be readily explained. Opening up the chamber for analysis would destroy the vacuum and delay the tests by a week. The engineering method is used to mitigate the anomaly, allowing the tests to proceed quickly. To prevent the anomaly from occurring in the future, the scientific method is used afterwards in a thorough root cause analysis. Even though this may not be "new science" as such, it is still the scientific method, because the goal is to gain a deeper understanding of the system than was deemed necessary before.
This knowledge should be taught to all non-engineering professionals. I never thought I would be so interested in a topic about engineering. Awesome content!
One of the best channels around, excited to watch this!
Love your content! Just curious. Will your new videos contain the comedic wit of your old content? Keep it up!
No. No comedy, we stopped that long, long ago.
😏😏
What I love about this channel and Practical Engineering is the way that you start to notice the hidden problems in our world that have been cleverly solved. They are often solved so well that we don't even realize they were ever a problem.
This is your best video yet. Awesome explanation as usual!
I never thought Id see the day! So excited!
I was beginning to wonder myself.
You have no idea how excited i was when i saw a new video from this channel!!!
Something I heartily enjoyed playing with as, long, long ago, a student architect. Nicely presented.
I love the distinction you make between scientific theory and rule-of-thumb/trial-and-error. And you're such a clear "presenter." Thrilling, really -- a VERY important distinction.
My favorite professor that I never had in college! Thank you Sir for a great video and I hope a new start to many more videos
I'm glad to see this viewpoint. In school I learned that Calculus was used to design architecture. Maybe it was used in only analysis, not design. Your video highlights the difference between carpenters, plumbers, electricians and their modern day engineer equivalents. Skilled tradesmen can accomplish amazing work through experience with or without mathematics
The scope of it is insanely limited though. For building things that we do today, it is necessary to have a predictive approach.
Also, this video doesn't point out something important and lost itself in survivor bias. Thousands of churches and buildings fell like a house of cards. The precision we can achieve today is unparallel.
Wow, the insights from this video changed the course of the study I am writing. Using machine learning to scan old temples and cathedrals, I was looking for the method the ancients used to transmit formulas for ratios. I need to also scan for the physical methods used to calculate the building and boat construction measures. This video is worth every second of the time I spent watching it!
Oh, you're including boat construction too? Why? That's very interesting.
Superb, absolutely superb. I’ve been to 4-5 of these structures and am in awe each time, now I’ll be even more so.
Hey Bill have you ever made a video of how the staind glass masters made those fantastical custom colors for the cathedrals windows of old? I heard it was so dangerous but read it was a combination of chemistry, and engineering that always fascinated me. Kinda like a master chef. Anyway let me know if you ever get time. Thank you once again for all your work!
Nice video. But to be fair you should also talk about places like Beauvais Cathedral. Who (partially) collapsed after building and has structural problems to this day. Because every rule of thumb is learned by dozen of painful lessons.
Hi EngineerGuy. Note that Euclid wrote his great treatise on geometry, which was more advanced than the stone and concrete pillar problems, hundreds of years before the Pantheon was designed, and more than a thousand years before the European cathedrals. Whether certain designers knew the actual source of their procedures, geometers and architectural experimentalists guided their decisions, however indirectly. As for the working masons, then as now, construction workers rarely have any idea how much mathematics and science and engineering goes into a building. Cheers.
@Engineerguy
I simply want to thank You (and Your team) for yet another fantastic video.
Best regards
The technique for getting wall thickness is fascinating! This really shows that as much as people think of it as based deeply in mathematics, geometry can be as much an empirical art as any 'conventional' act of construction.
He comes back to us now. At the turn of the tide.
When I've worked with good carpenters on houses they had all kinds of tricks and didn't really use math all that much at all. Good video. I wish I could take your classes. A good teacher is hard to find.
Stunning quality! Really clear video, congrats ❤
Very cool. Living near the great Cathedral of Cologne in Germany, I often marvel at how they could possibly construct such enormous and complex structures without modern technology.
And the vision and dedication of the people, who devised and built it, is as awe inspiring, as the building itself.
For the glory of God
It only took 630 years
@@billklatsch5058
Well...most of that delay was due to wars and lack of funds. Nothing you can do about that.
@@raraavis7782Delay,… like today 😂
This was something I've been wondering myself for a long time- people are in awe at how such magnificent buildings were built without modern tools, but I think the more surprising thing is they were built without modern day understanding of mathematics. But this video answers it, it probably was just a set of craftsman's traditions that were passed passed from generation to the next, perhaps becoming a bit more refined in the process.
Speaking of cathedrals, another fun detail is in their stained glass- had the craftsmen used organic dyes to tint the glass, the pigment molecules would've been eventually destroyed by light from the sun, and the glass would go back to being full transparent. But they didn't- instead colloidal solutions of different metals were embedded into the glass, nanoparticles of gold and silver that are much more stable attenuate certain wavelengths resulting in the glass gaining color. This happens through plasmonic interactions, an effect that we only came to understand in the past 100 years or so once quantum theory became a thing. Yet medieval craftsmen inherited this technique from romans who, likely by accident, discovered that if you add gold or silver-containing material to molten glass in just the right way, you get color. Again, a case of something that just works being used without necessarily having to understand how or why. I also love to tell this because technically this means that the first intentional usage of nanotechnologies happened somewhere around 400 AD lol
Only one aspect was explained, and just barely. This video actually made me finally ask the question, how were these buildings made hundreds of years ago? The answer is it made by a group of unskilled workers with basic level arithmetic proficiency? That doesn't add up. I've worked in construction, it would be a serious construction project to build one of these cathedrals today.
@@HyperionBadger that's not what I got out of it
The question it poses is how were these things built and designed without modern understanding of metrology, maths and science, and the answer is by following archaic rules and 'laws' that were likely derived empirically through trial and error( e.g. the example that the guy presented with arch construction)
@@Assault_Butter_Knife Yes, chalking the design and stringing it from point to point would not require a substantial amount of mathematical proficiency, however to put it into practice and put it to the test. How? This is part of the trial and error. You design and test. But these buildings are absolute MARVELS of engineering. Think about how expensive this would have been to just design and test with unskilled labor with the incredible building material they've used(they're still standing today!). Also, in regard to metrology, the uploader touched on only one aspect of this particular building. If you look at some of these cathedrals as a whole, there is no way that these can be built without comprehensive engineering expertise. Look at Cologne Cathedral, granted it was built in the 1800s, do you realize how much time, money, and engineering resources that would require today? I am only asking because I'm now on a curious hunt on how some of these structures were built in that era. The answer is definitely not, it was built by unskilled workers however.
glad to have you back!! your content is a notch above the best!!
Wonderful content! You explain things so clearly. Thanks!