Engineering Ethics: Balancing Cost, Schedule, and Risk - Lessons Learned from the Space Shuttle - Softcover

Pinkus, Rosa Lynn B.; Shuman, Larry J.; Hummon, Norman P.; Wolfe, Harvey

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0521437504 ISBN 13: 9780521437509

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 1997

Synopsis

How do engineers respond to ethical dilemmas that occur in practice? How do they view their individual and collective responsibilities? How do they make decisions before all the facts are in? Using the space shuttle program as its framework, this book examines the role of ethical decision making in the practice of engineering. In particular, the authors consider the design and development of the main engines of the space shuttle as a paradigm for how individual engineers perceive, articulate, and resolve ethical dilemmas in a large, complex organization. A series of in-depth case studies show engineers at work on various stages of the project as they balance budgets, deadlines, and risks. By documenting the historical development of a single system, the volume provides a unique opportunity to explore the complex interactions between political, organizational, and technical pressures and engineering and management decisions. The resulting book will appeal to everyone with an interest in engineering and the history of technology.

About this title

Book Description

This text examines the role of ethical decision making in engineering. In particular, it considers the design and development of the main engines of the space shuttle as a paradigm for how engineers perceive, articulate, and resolve ethical dilemmas within a large, complex organization.

Review

"...opens a vista on a dilemma that confronts all engineers and decision makers in the modern politically correct world." Choice

"I found the chapter describing the engineering ethics framework enlightening and invaluable....As a reference book on ethics and the engineering decision making process, it is a valuable edition to your library." Mechanical Engineering News

"Engineering Ethics provides what may be the most comprehensive examination of contemporary science-technology-society issues available to science educators who view STS through a systemic, systems-wide lens...inherently interesting, comprehensible, and insightful...a skillfully crafted reflective analysis of a complex world where scientific reasoning meshes with social and political structures, and where science and technology are presented as creative endeavors and are revealed in every sense to be human enterprises." Science Education

"As a detailed study of ethical issues arising in the space shuttle program, Engineering Ethics is quite successful. The methodology it offers is quite helpful in organizing and analyzing those ethical issues...a good read and a welcome contribution to the growing literature of engineering ethics." Technology and Culture

Edition details

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 1997
• ISBN 10: 0521437504
• ISBN 13: 9780521437509
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 400