Engineering is a very old discipline, and may be defined as the application of science and mathematics to the solution of practical problems arising in the design and manufacture of complex artifacts. Prior to the eighteenth century, engineering was largely confined to the military domain. Typical engineering concerns included the accurate firing of artillery, contriving means to aid in troop movement over difficult terrain, and so on. Toward the end of the eighteenth century, non-military engineering began to be recognized in its own right, and came to be called civil engineering. Subsequent centuries have given rise to many further sub-disciplines in engineering; recently we have seen software engineering and genetic engineering, among others, come to prominence.

Electrical engineering arose toward the end of the 19th century thanks to the work of such pioneers as Thomas Edison, George Westinghouse, and Nikola...