Autobiography of Sir John Rennie, F.R.S 62

Autobiography of Sir John Rennie, F.R.S 62

the Institution of Civil Engineers. But I think the time has now arrived

when that Institution should be enlarged, and take a wider sphere. It

has hitherto been confined too much to the class practising purely

engineering works; but the mechanical engineers now form a body which

must be treated with every deference. It is very true that the latter

are freely admitted into the institution, but there seems to be a tacit

understanding amongst the former that they should not attain the honour

of becoming presidents and vice-presidents. It is true that the late Mr.

Field, a most distinguished mechanical engineer, was elected president,

and served his time; but this, I believe, arose more from his having been

one of the earliest members of the institution than from any respect

due to the particular class of the profession to which he belonged.

Now there cannot be a greater mistake than this. Every member of that

institution, to whatever class he belongs, from the moment he is elected

should be in every respect upon precisely the same footing as those

who are now considered the governing class, and the ablest man should

be chosen from each grade as president or vice-president alternately,

so that each department should successively occupy the chair. Also,

instead of choosing the president and council by rotation, according to

seniority, the acknowledged best men in every department should be chosen

as officers. And further, the institution thus regulated should have

the power of giving certificates of competency after the candidates for

admission have been duly examined by independent examiners; and until

they have received these certificates they should not be allowed to

practise. This is the rule in every other learned profession, and there

can be no reason why it should not be adopted by the engineers. It is the

only method by which it can take rank amongst the learned professions;

and as no other requires more scientific knowledge, or is entrusted with

a greater portion of responsibility or a larger amount of trust, or where

failure becomes more disastrous, it is quite clear that no man should be

allowed to practise it unless he has passed a proper examination, and has

received a certificate of competency from proper authorities.

 

Against this proposal it may be argued, that many illiterate men,

although of great original genius, would be excluded if their competency

were tried by such a test. My reply is, let them not be tried only

by the ordinary rules of scientific books, but also by the general

principles which the candidate professes, and let those principles be

tested, to prove how far they are in accordance with sound philosophy.

A man like Stephenson or Brindley, although illiterate, may understand

these principles perfectly, and yet may not be able to explain them.

Nevertheless, let him be examined, but in a different manner from the

ordinary routine, and it will soon be discovered whether his profession

and his practice are founded upon true mechanical and philosophical

principles.

 

If these examinations are properly conducted every possible objection

will be abolished, and no scientific educated engineer, or any illiterate

person of true scientific genius, will be prevented from pursuing the

profession, whilst only the speculator and charlatan will be excluded.

By this means the public will be assured that the works for which they

subscribe the funds will be conducted in the best manner, and most

probably to a successful termination. At present, the system upon which

public works are carried on is wholly wrong. There is no system. Any

man without business, competent or not, dubs himself engineer, starts a

project, well or ill founded, as the case may be, _generally the latter_,

and issues a prospectus to the public, to obtain the necessary funds to

carry his proposal into effect. Next he gets a contractor to back him

by taking a certain number of shares, provided that he has the contract

at his own price. The shares he looks upon as good for nothing, and

therefore adds so much more to his ordinary profits, so that instead of

receiving 10 or 12 per cent. upon his cost price, which is the usual rule

of the trade, he gets double, with the shares into the bargain, all of

which is added to the capital of the undertaking; and in order to carry

into effect this wasteful policy, the contractor generally stipulates for

two or three of his own nominees to be placed upon the board, to “_look

after_” his interests, so that, in point of fact, he pays himself pretty

nearly what he likes. The engineer, who ought to be his master, loses

all control over him, and in many cases becomes little better than his

servant. This is certainly a most discreditable state of things, and has

been the cause of the most wasteful expenditure, and the ruin of many

valuable undertakings, and it will always continue to be the case so long

as the present system prevails.

 

The real object of the civil engineer is to promote the civilization

of the world, by the proper application of all the great mechanical

means at his command, and to take a high, independent position as a

scientific man, thoroughly versed in his profession both theoretically

and practically, and wholly independent of contractors, and all sinister

influences. Unless he can do this, he never will be held in that esteem

and respect, or take that high position without which no professional

man can properly discharge the duties that he owes to himself and to the

public.

 

Against what I have said it may perhaps be urged that I assign too high a

place to the profession to which my father and myself have had the honour

to belong; but I think that when the subject has been calmly and fairly

considered it will be generally admitted that I have not done so without

reason. Without wishing for a moment to depreciate the merits of any

other body of men, I think it will be conceded that the objects proposed

by the engineer, and the acquirements, knowledge, and experience that he

must possess before he can practise successfully, are at least equal to

those of any other profession, particularly after the practical examples

exhibited to the world of the great benefits that engineering has already

conferred upon mankind. Therefore are we entitled to be ranked amongst

the most learned professions, and to receive all the honours they have

most justly earned; and I trust the time is not far distant when this

justice will be accorded to them.

 

Before concluding this sketch of my career I will offer a few

observations as to what I consider, from my experience, the best plan

of education for the profession of a civil engineer. Hitherto there has

been no regular system. A youth leaves school about the age of seventeen

or eighteen, without any previous training, and his parents, thinking

that he has got a mechanical turn, as it is termed, decide at once to

make him a civil engineer, whether he likes it or is fit for it or not.

They then send him, with a considerable premium, to an engineer of some

standing and practice, who, unless special conditions are made (and

very few engineers will make them), will not undertake to teach him the

profession. The pupil is sent into the office, and placed under the

direction of the principal assistant, who directs him to do whatever is

required, if he can do it, whether drawing, writing, or calculating, or

anything else; and if he wishes to learn anything, he must find it out

himself: neither the principal nor assistant explains the principles or

reasons of anything that is done. If he prove to be steady, intelligent,

and useful, keeps the regular office hours, and evinces a determination

to understand thoroughly the why and wherefore of every kind of work

that is brought before him, and by this means acquires some practical

knowledge, he will soon attract the notice of his employer, and will

be gradually transferred from one department to another, until the

expiration of his pupilage, which varies from three to four years; then,

if he really has acquired a competent knowledge of the profession, and

the employer thinks his old pupil can be of further service to him, he is

engaged at a moderate salary, to be employed in such capacity as he is

fit for. If during his pupilage he has made but little progress, nothing

beyond mere routine, he is discharged with a certificate according to his

merits, and sent into the world, to find his way forward as best he can.

 

Now it should be understood that the pupil only learns one part of his

business, such as the construction of railways, canals, improvement of

rivers, docks, drainage, harbours, and waterworks, and the buildings

connected with them; but there is another and very important part of

civil engineering, namely, _the mechanical department_, of which he

remains totally ignorant. Nor will he gain any insight into the raising

of coals, iron, or any other geological product. Now, in order to form

a good civil engineer, in my opinion it is absolutely necessary that he

should be well acquainted with all these different branches. To this

it may be replied, that it is not necessary an engineer should be

acquainted with all departments of the profession, but only with the

one to which he intends more particularly to devote himself. Now this

is a very great mistake, for they are all so intimately connected, that

without having a general knowledge of the whole you cannot practise

in any one department with complete success; for whenever you have to

rely upon the resources of another department you can never make sure

of being thoroughly well served, unless you are yourself a tolerable

judge of work. I repeat, then, that an engineer who has studied only

one department cannot be termed properly educated. And the question

arises, what is the best mode of education for a pupil to obtain this

multifarious, and, as I contend, absolutely necessary, information, to

enable him to practise the profession of a civil engineer in the most

enlightened, scientific, and practical manner? My answer is this: Let

him first get a sound elementary education in the several departments of

arithmetic, algebra, geometry, natural philosophy, geography, geology,

astronomy, chemistry, land and hydrographical surveying, as well as

grammar, English composition, history, French, German, and Latin,

according to the improved system of modern education; every youth of

ordinary talents has a tolerably fair knowledge of these at seventeen or

eighteen. What then should be the training for an engineer? First let him

go through the best course of modern education at his command, including

the elements of geometry, mathematics, and the physical sciences, not

excluding Latin and Greek, in spite of the prejudice against them now

frequently expressed. Then let him be apprenticed for two or three years

to some good steam engine and machinery manufacturer, where he should

learn to make drawings and calculations, handle tools, make models,

steam-engine machinery, and put machinery together. By this means,

if he applies his mind to it properly, he may become a practical as

well as theoretical mechanician, which is the soundest basis for good

engineering; indeed, without this it is impossible for an engineer to be

thoroughly successful, but being well grounded in this most important

knowledge, all the others will become comparatively easy. Having gone

through this apprenticeship, let him bind himself for three or four years

to some well-known civil engineer, of large practice in railways, docks,

harbours, waterworks, canals, drainage, rivers, &c. In this office the

pupil will learn everything connected with these departments, and as

they are founded more or less upon practical mechanics, he will soon

find that from his previous mechanical education he has already acquired

considerable knowledge of them, and it will only be necessary to apply

those principles, modified according to the particular circumstances

required: in fact, the principles are the same, although applied upon a

larger scale.