Questions tagged [engineering]
Questions related to the design, development, construction, and use of human-made objects. General tag for mechanical and electric systems, tools, machinery, building design and construction, military engineering, aircraft, and complex system design.
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Are the dimensions of bricks used in Sumerian monuments like the great Ziggurat of Ur the same as in the Indus Valley Civilization?
We know there were extensive trade ties between the ancient Indus Valley Civilization and that of ancient Sumer.
I'm curious if there were cultural transmissions of engineering ideas too. The Indus ...
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What was the standard prototype method prior to 3d printing? [closed]
Ever since the commercialization of rapid prototyping in 1983 by Chuck Hull, 3D printing has become increasingly popular in product development.
The invention of additive prototyping is in engineering ...
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Can anyone provide any details on the model, history and value of my grandfather's watch?
After my grandfather passed away in 2010, a lot of his belongings were split between his daughters. My mother recently gave me a watch that belonged to my grandfather, but I cannot find any details ...
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Who would have been worshipped as the god of engineering in Ancient Rome?
I am wondering who people, like the Roman architects that designed the aqueducts and other engineering marvels, would pray to to make sure their designs were good and would work?
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Along side Roman roads, where did the drainage ditches lead? [closed]
Reading about how Roman roads were built, it seems they built drainage ditches on both sides. I've found various sites talking about this, such as this one.
This leads to a question that will sound ...
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What attempts were made to limit Roman-era water pressure/flow 'theft' by code, pipe length, and expanders and by whom?
I am searching for more knowledge as to what limitations were placed upon delivery to in-house water supply systems during the Roman Era. These limitations could have been via code, pipe size, pipe ...
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Why did the steam locomotive take so long? [closed]
The steam engine was invented around the start of the 1700s (don’t quote me on that), but the locomotive was invented around a century later. Why is this? Did no one have the idea? Was the technology ...
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Would a house built in 1745 have a water tank in the attic? (up to 1847)
Was looking at the floorplans on this page (picture 43), was wondering if buildings from 1745-1847 were likely to have water tanks in the attic? Would this have been added during a relatively modern (...
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What factors led to the differing attitude to (civil) engineering projects between Roman and Russian armies?
While this might sound like a bit of a leap (i.e., why should Roman armies and Russian armies have any similarities), the Romans were considered as one of the first civilizations to use as models (if ...
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Did ancient peoples ever hide their treasure behind puzzles?
I just saw the film Dora and the Lost City of Gold, in which there is a somewhat meta running commentary over whether so-called "jungle puzzles", intellectual challenges typically requiring explorers ...
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Why did Jodrell Bank assist the Soviet Union to collect data from their spacecraft in the mid 1960's?
I've just listened to the short BBC News audio podcast clip How British academics spied on the superpowers:
Tim O’Brien from the Jodrell Bank radio telescope discusses 50 year old recordings which ...
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How long did it take a typical capital warship to ramp up to flank speed?
For a typical capital warship (including aircraft carriers) of any navy circa 1920s-1960s I am looking for a rough power ramp up time for the power plant to go from min load to max load.
That is to ...
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In what year did Charles Proteus Steinmetz fix Ford's Generator for the famed $10,000 invoice?
Charles Proteus Steinmetz is the protagonist of an interesting tale about fixing a generator at Ford's plant. Unfortunately the Smithsonian Magazine does not state the year in which the incident ...
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Where is (or was) the biggest medieval drawbridge?
A pretty straightforward question. I'm trying to find the largest drawbridge in medieval Europe, and it's more difficult than it seemed at first.
At least I want to know if it would be possible to ...
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When were public roads cleaned electromagnetically?
In the first half of the 20th century, tires were more often punctured, so metal waste on the roadway was a bigger problem. The book "Lorries, Trucks and Vans 1897-1927" features an electromagnetic ...
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Why did Chicago and other cities choose an L (elevated metro) when most others chose underground subways?
From my related question, I'm trying to understand the decision-making that went into metro/subway design.
Why did Chicago choose an elevated metro system instead of an underground subway? Most other ...
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Why are so many metros underground? Isn't that more expensive than an elevated system?
Starting with the London Underground in 1863, why are so many metros/subways built underground (as opposed to en elevated metro)? This requires a lot of digging and excavation, which to me seems a lot ...
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Would every Roman army have dedicated engineers?
Would a Roman army have dedicated engineers to design and build the siege engines (onagers, scorpions etc)? Would the engineers be expected to fight?
Personally, I am particularly interested in what ...
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How advanced were the people of Indus valley civilization in engineering? [closed]
How advanced were the people of Indus valley civilization in engineering aspects compared with other civilizations during or before their time?
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Why did the USSR switch from 1524 mm gauge to 1520 mm gauge in the late 1960's?
This article mentions that Russia started with a 1,524 mm rail gauge, and in the sixties and seventies, switched to a 1,520 mm rail gauge with tighter tolerances.
Why do this? If you want tighter ...
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Did Archimedes have any students?
We know that Archimedes learnt a lot from his father, Phidias (who was an astronomer) and most likely studied in Alexandria, alongside other great contemporaries such as Eratosthenes of Cyrene and ...
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What were Greek and Roman sails made from?
I have found that Vikings used sails made from wool; can anyone tell me what the sails of ancient Greece and Rome would have been made from?
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How long did it take to build earth dikes with low-tech tools?
Let's say you're in charge of a group of laborers anywhere from the Iron Age to the Middle Ages.
Your job is to build a dike made of earth, a couple of meters high and presumably about the same width ...
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How close did the French come to digging a canal across the Isthmus of Kra in the 1880s?
Ferdinand de Lesseps is known to history as the man who pushed through the construction of the Suez Canal in the 1860s. Later (from 1880 onward) he led an attempt to dig a canal through Panama, but ...
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Are steam engines still in regular use anywhere in the world?
Are there any countries in which steam engines have a regular purpose, or are still dominant on the railway? When did they officially fade out of use in the western world?
In Australia at least, they ...
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What is the history of Research and Development laboratories?
When did Research and Development laboratories (R&D labs) emerge? What was the institutional and intellectual context? Have they undergone major changes in their nature? What role have R&D ...
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