"celebrities" in engineering? 6

[MechanicalAnimal]

I wasn't sure where to post this question, this section ended up as the logical choice...

I'm sure we often encounter TV shows, interviews in the newspapers etc where "famous people" and "celebrities" are asked for their opinions on such and such, general things...
Very often, subjects of this media attention are musicians, writers, all kinds of artists, some just very rich people, sometimes famous scientists, physicians, psychologists, CEOs of big companies, other (famous) reporters... but very, very rarely - engineers? Even when doing a report on offshore pipe laying or automotive, they'll typically "expose" the management and the "common worker", not the engineers...

Also, in general public, nearly everyone will be familiar with names of various artists, scientists, etc. but mention an engineer's name? Maybe Diesel and Tesla will ring a Bell, ( ), but mention "Otto" (or even "Otto's engine")and very rare people will know who he was and what kind of an engine it really is.

I'd like your opinion on this? Are people generally not interested in engineers, is there simply not enough engineers to "go around" as "famous"? Were there any "famous" engineers, and what are their names? I'd love to read up on their biographies etc, and learn something about them...

 

[JAE]

But Carter, Hitchock, and Williams are not known AS engineers - they are famous for other activities, not engineering.

 

[geekEE]

Is George Ferris a celebrity? I had to look up the name. And nearly everyone on that list was not famous as a engineer. Grace Hopper and George Ferris seemed to be the only ones. It seems funny that the brochure would list the others. Are they trying to convince you that an engineering background will help you in your film or professional sports career?

 

[IRstuff]

I'm sure the inventor of the Ferris Wheel was a celebrity at the time, but death has a way of quashing celebrity status.

Except for those who get the occasional, or frequent, "bump" that brings their thread back to the top of the list.

I hope that the "bug" in Hopper's name was not in the brochure:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grace_Hopper,

note that "bug" supposedly was already in wide usage prior to Hopper's discovery of her "bug."


TTFN

FAQ731-376

 

[drawoh]

IRstuff,

The term "bug" definitely was used by Alexander Seversky in his 1943 book Victory Through Airpower.

JHG

 

[RDK]

Up until a few years ago all West Point Graduates received degrees in Military Engineering (not sure of the correct title).

In my experience a lot of military people, not in the engineering areas also have engineering degrees.

I would expect that a lot of famous military people are engineers, Douglas MacArthur has been mentioned.


Rick Kitson MBA P.Eng

Construction Project Management
From conception to completion

http://www.kitsonengineering.com

 

[25362]

I hope the following names are accepted as famous chemical engineers:

Arthur D. Little (coined the term unit operations)
Leo Hendrik Baekeland (bakelite)
John von Neumann (aka as mathematician, physicist)

 

[plasgears]

With all due repects to Edison, Nicolai Tesla deserves to be recognized. He introduced AC power, transformers, and induction motors, and Edison went nuts over the possibility of DC being supplanted. What followed was AC/DC electrocution experiments, heavy invective, and shameful defamation of Tesla.

If Tesla is not a household name, it is because of Edison's invective against him. Speak of NIH!

 

[PeterCharles]

If you ask the Great British Public for the name of the engineer who first comes into their mind, I understand the top answer is Kevin Webster.

How sad!

 

[jmw]

Jeez, I had to do an internet search for that one.
How out of date is Corrie? they're not mechanics or motor engineers anymore, they're "Automotive Technicians." They don't need any skills, just the ability to replace everything in sight until the problem has, hopefully, gone away.
Mechanics used to actually find the problem and fix it.

JMW

http://www.ViscoAnalyser.com

 

[70AARCUDA]

...the "scientific" equivalent of the OSCARS would be the NOBEL PRIZE winners...now you're comparing apples to APPLES

...so maybe the question should be: How many NOBEL PRIZE winners have attained 'celebrity' status?

 

[Sideswiper]

I know it was mentioned but it cracks me up that Rowan Atkinson is an electrical engineer. Maybe there's hope for me yet in comedy, heh.

 

[drawoh]

Sideswiper,

Allan Dwan, Clarence Brown and Frank Capra all were trained as engineers before they became Hollywood movie directors. Dwan and Brown actively practised engineering before they went into the movie business.

Dwan was a movie pioneer and one of the top directors on the silent era. I belive the movie Nickleodeon is based on interviews with him. In early sound he ran afoul of Darryl F. Zanuck and wound up at Republic studios. His one big movie after the thirties was The Sands of Iwo Jima. Brown was mentored by Maurice Tourneur (sp?) and ultimately became Louis B. Meyer's favorite director at MGM.

Frank Capra worked for Columbia Studios where he directed a bunch of classic movies including It Happened One Night and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.

Nevil Shute was an aerospace engineer.

I understand that none of the Monty Python troupe except the American Terry Gilliam have formal artistic training. Graham Chapman was trained as a physician. Terry Jones has become a fantastic history writer.

There is this idea that artists have to work separate from society, and that they have some sort of special vision. I do not see this. It would a good thing to see people in more walks of life contributing to TV and literature.

JHG

 

[jmw]

Aurthur C Clark(e)?
Worked on Radar during the war and invented geosynchronous communications satellites.
But yes, better known as a science fiction author than engineer....same as Neville Shute Norway fame as a writer.

JMW

http://www.ViscoAnalyser.com

 

[zeitghost]

Fred Dibnah.

Steam engineer...

 

[jmw]

If we can have Fred Dibnah, can we also have Blaster Bates?
OK, his Rolls Royce apprenticeship was interrupted by war, but I'm not sure Fred was formerly educated either..... Bolton and Leeds... something about those Northern shires...

JMW

http://www.ViscoAnalyser.com

 

[KENAT]

Fred Dibnah, as I recall, was actually a steeple jack. I always found him fascinating growing up.

KENAT, probably the least qualified checker you'll ever meet...

 

[IRstuff]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Dibnah

Not clear what his "achievement in engineering" was, though

TTFN

FAQ731-376

 

[KENAT]

IRstuff, I belive you are from the US. I'm not sure anyone from outside the UK would get it but he was great.

He likely wouldn't meet most people heres definition of an Engineer but I always found him very entertaining and a lot of his shows pertained to Engineering in History. If I remember correctly he designed and built some of the tools he used on his traction engine hobby etc.

He did have 2 doctorates from Engineering schools:

"Fred also previously received two honorary doctorates ..... They were both given by the relevant engineering faculties, but Fred always told people that they were for "back street mechanicing". "

KENAT, probably the least qualified checker you'll ever meet...

 

[IRstuff]

Yup...

Our contender for colorful engineering personality might be Bill Nye, The Science Guy:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_nye

According to the article, Nye was actually an ME working at Boeing, as well as being an engineering consultant.

TTFN

FAQ731-376

 

[zeitghost]

Anyone who builds a working replica of a coalmine in his back garden gets my vote!

As a practical hands on engineer, Fred Dibnah was one of the best.

And he made good tv programmes too...

Blaster Bates was another great entertainer and explosives man, but not necessarily an engineer in the same way as Fred....