4-1-19

4/1/19 Graham paper topic discussion

Assignment: Write a paper comparing an example from Graham with one example of your choice from another place and time. Your examples should discuss the reason why they are different or similar. The common thread of your two examples could be:

    whistle-blowers (engineers who go public about mistakes being made)

    engineering failures (either why they happened or their impact on society)

    compare an engineering failure with an engineering success--pick things that are similar in their motivation

    issues of social justice in engineering

    engineering distorted by politics

Your paper must make substantial use of Graham and also include your own research--at least 1/3 of your paper should be each of those.

Please re-read the rules in the syllabus about plagiarism. The paper should be about 5 pages double spaced, 12 point font, with references in MLA, APA or Chicago format.

examples:

British water supply system--by damming streams and creating reservoirs--compared to Soviet dam:
comparison points;

how carefully are alternatives and costs and benefits analyzed?
what issues did engineers look at?
how were the people whose houses were flooded by the reservoirs treated?
who benefited--did the water supply system serve only the richer part of the city or the poor as well
how the government decide what projects to do?

White sea canal vs. Panama canal

what affected the choice of route?
worker conditions--did the US actually do much better? why or why not?
how did politics affect construction?