Excerpt:
The history of engineering can be roughly divided into four overlapping phases, each marked by a revolution:
Pre-scientific revolution: The prehistory of modern engineering features ancient master builders and Renaissance engineers such as Leonardo da Vinci.
Industrial revolution: From the eighteenth through early nineteenth century, civil and mechanical engineers changed from practical artists to scientific professionals.
Second industrial revolution: In the century before World War II, chemical, electrical, and other science-based engineering branches developed electricity, telecommunications, cars, airplanes, and mass production.
Information revolution: As engineering science matured after the war, microelectronics, computers, and telecommunications jointly produced information technology.