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A portion of Nickalus' winning essay:
The reason I choose engineering over other educational oppurtunities is the fact that engineering will not only one day provide me with a useful skill but it will, in the process of this skill give me a small taste of how academics, namely mathematics and physics relate to the world.
Engineering is a vastly changing and diverse field, but throughout history people have viewed engineers as problem solvers and as promoters of society. Historically engineers have progressed society to the point in which it is today. There are three different subjects that I wanted to study while pursuing an engineering degree, which are : physics, mathematics, and history. I will briefly describe why I wanted to pursue each of these academic fields in relation to personal knowledge and applications in engineering. The following is an essay written by me to describe these three different subjects and why I am interested in them:
There are many subjects that I consider unique and necessary for the pursuit of knowledge, and the lifelong goal that scholars seek to obtain: understanding. It is mans most noble goal, to understand the universe that surrounds him, and ultimately his purpose in it. This dates back to the age old question, what is the meaning of life. This question has perplexed many people to seek extreme answers through various fields of study, some pursue the hard factual science route, and others pursue the more artistic route to find the beauty inherent in life. It is my goal in this paper to illustrate my definition of a lifelong learning opportunity and to also present the various fields of study that I feel would best suit this opportunity.
The first subject I will describe is history. There is an old quote “Those who do not learn from the past are destined to repeat it”, this quote implies that without first knowing our past we could never be able to progress in our future. History has impacted world society on many scales. Events happen in the past and in the future we look back at them and continually learn and progress. How many times have we looked back into the Ancient Greeks for answers to today’s questions? Our government was fashioned in some aspects from ancient political thought. The forefathers of our country while very creative themselves looked back to the past in order to build documents such as the Constitution, Declaration of Independence, and other prestigious documents. Without a firm knowledge of the past, it is questionable of the founders of our country would have maintained the same route they took in creating our government structure. On a completely different level, history not only affects events but it saves lives. For instance, the Spanish Influenza of 1918 which nearly killed a third of the world’s population is now known as the “Flu” and while it is not desirable to have it is very treatable at the present time. Without proper study of history and the trends of the virus mutations and the necessary vaccines to prevent epidemics this would not be possible. In the times we live in now there are not major epidemics as such in the past which cause the deaths of a third of the world’s population. While there are constantly new diseases and viruses the best tool that today’s medical scientists and doctors have in treating them is history. By learning from the past and pursuing improving the future there have been major advancements in the field of medicine in the recent past.
In the past ancient cultures thought that by their children
understanding the past, they would understand who they are. In today’s
ever changing society sometimes we as a society get caught up in only
what is happening now, and not paying attention to the past. This
happens because we are experiencing the most rapid growth of population,
technology, and change in the history of the planet. With our focus
totally on the future sometimes we lose sight of our past, and where we
came from. The mentality of why should we care what happened twenty years ago when we are more interested in what is happening twenty years from now. The most ironic thing about this mentality is the fact that the best indicator of our future is the past. In a final quote from George Orwell’s famous novel, 1984 “Those who control the past, control the future”.
I would love to study history as a lifelong learning opportunity because
not only do I find it incredibly interesting to know the past, but I find it very useful in understanding my future.
The next subject I will describe is Physics. This is more of a factual science based on numbers and theories. The importance of such a subject cannot, however, be overlooked. Some of the greatest advancements in the near past have been directly due to the study of physics and its applications to mankind. Nearly 500 years ago (just a blink in terms of historical time) nearly everyone believed that the world was flat, and that earth was the center of the universe. Now we may look back at this and think (due to our present knowledge) and wonder how they could believe such. Without the study of physics and an attempt to understand the universe and its laws we may still believe the world is flat, and that the earth was the center of the universe, and Sir Isaac Newton, without the pursuit of understanding when struck by an apple could have just taken the apple and been on his way. Instead he asked the question why? Ever since then he has impacted the fields of science almost in unprecedented ways. From this he formed the basis of elementary mechanics, which would later develop into a series of different fields, and lead to future thought which would provide the basis for subjects not even previously thought of. Our entire lifestyle today, in the 21st century is due to advancements in the understanding of the laws of the universe and how they work. Perhaps Pope Paul VI understood it best when he said the following: “Physics does not change the nature of the world it studies, and no science of behavior can change the essential nature of man, even though both sciences yield technologies with a vast power to manipulate the subject matters.” The advancements in the fields of technology and improving the lifestyle of society are remarkable. The various fields of engineering are able to make use of the advancements in the knowledge of physics to apply directly the knowledge to the various technical fields which comprise today’s industrial world.What I find interesting about physics however, is the curiosity to ask the questions, and to seek a further understanding in the nature of the laws of the universe and their impact on mankind. It leads me back to the beginning of this paper in analyzing why a lifelong opportunity for learning would be important. The study of physics intrigues me not only because I feel I could learn many interesting things about the world, but I feel that I could be able to understand some basic things about how the laws of nature work. With this understanding I would hope to be able to pursue a search for understanding the age old questions posed by society.
“If you want to be a physicist, you must do three things -- First, studymathematics, second, study more mathematics, and third, do the same.”-- Arnold Sommerfeld (German Physicist, 1868-1951). The next subject in which I would be interested in pursuing a lifelong study in is the subject of Mathematics. The study of mathematics is not a pursuit in necessarily a further understanding of the laws of nature, or the ways the universe works, but in learning the universal language of mathematics. The way I think of mathematics is a way to communicate in accordance with the laws of mathematics. Just as we have laws for language grammar and rules we must follow in speech and writing there are certain premises we must not break in the communications in mathematics, and these premises are defined very early on the in education of children all the way through their continued education in the fields of mathematics. The reason for my interest in mathematics is that no matter where you travel, or who you converse with every country has the same rules of mathematics, it does not change no matter where you go. It can best be described as the universal language. Through a study of mathematics one could hope to obtain a fluent working tool to use in problem solving, or in other fields of study in which just the mathematical experience obtained through study would allow for you to see problems in a different light.
There are many different subjects that could also be noted here, but these are the ones I choose based on my personal experience with them, and a further interest in experiencing them more in the future. It is my goal to one day to be able to study these subjects with the much fervor and a lifelong curiosity for understanding. I could only so hope that a lifetime would be long enough to achieve this understanding.
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