Reply #299: Then they were not real engineers. How did they solve projectile motion problems in Physics I? [View All]

[Pholus]

Edit: Additionally, you're telling me that they are engineers who are incapable of using nonlinear models? How do they understand impedance matching or forced damped harmonic motion. Can they balance forces so that their buildings don't collapse?

British historian Len Deighton in "Blood, Sweat, Tears and Folly" claims that most of the idiotic decisions made by the British in WW I and WW II could be fairly attributed to a failure of their education system -- in particular an overemphasis on a "classics" education at the expense of a modern scientific and mathematical background. In fact, he is quite adamant that the failure of the British empire came about because their administrators, while eloquent speakers and writers, simply could no longer understand the demands of the modern world.