An eloquent, witty and perceptive celebration of our deepest creative impulses. Since prehistory humans have tried to change their environment - by building houses, monuments and temples, roads and enclosures. They have carved, designed and constructed; striving to build structures that were not only functional but also works of art to be admired and wondered at. Why then, asks Samuel Florman, has engineering sunk into such disfavour? Can engineers be blamed for pollution, the desecration of the landscape, a lack of taste? Samuel Florman is himself a distinguished and erudite engineer and he sets out to dispel the myth that has darkened the image of his profession, celebrating it as a vital, living force that is an essential part of human nature, rich in spiritual and sensual rewards. We are all dependent on engineers and the benefits they can provide, in opposing the fashionable 'anti-technology' stance, Florman emerges triumphantly with a creative, practical and fun philosophy of engineering that will boost his profession. Stimulating and illuminating, this book opens our eyes to the inner need to build, invent and manipulate, which only engineering can staisfy. This is essential reading for all who seek to understand their primal instincts.