Masoud

“Greatest engineering achievements of 20th century ranked by National Academy of Engineering:
1. Electrification
2. Automobile
3. Airplane
4. Water supply and distribution
5. Electronics
6. Radio and Television
7. Mechanization of agriculture
8. Computers
9. The telephone system
10. Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration
11. Highways
12. Spacecraft
13. The Internet
14. Imaging
15. Household appliances
16. Health technologies
17. Petroleum and Petrochemical Technologies
18. Lasers and Fiber-optics
19. Nuclear technologies
20. High performance materials”
― Henry Petroski, The Essential Engineer: Why Science Alone Will Not Solve Our Global Problems

“Monarchy is like a splendid ship, with all sails set it moves majestically on, but then it hits a rock and sinks for ever. Democracy is like a raft. It never sinks but, damn it, your feet are always in the water. That is a good metaphor, for raft, he implies, is simply swept along by the tide or the current; one can with a paddle or a plank steer a little to stay afloat, trim forward direction slightly to left or right, perhaps even slow down or speed up a little, but there is no turning back against the current of democracy.”
― Bernard Crick, Democracy: A Very Short Introduction

“Man's inclination to justice makes democracy possible; but man's capacity for injustice makes it necessary.' The optimism we need to prevent ourselves from destroying our own democratic freedoms and, indeed, our own human habitat must be based on reasoned pessimism.”
― Bernard Crick, Democracy: A Very Short Introduction

“A good judgment is usually the result of experience. And experience is frequently the result of bad judgment. But to learn from the experience of others requires those who have the experience to share the knowledge with those who follow.”
― Henry Petroski, To Engineer Is Human: The Role of Failure in Successful Design