Engineering and Environmental Ethics: A Case Study Approach

A guide to understanding and resolving the knotty ethical issues confronting today's engineering professional

Little in an engineer's formal training offers adequate preparation for navigating the murky waters of professional ethics. Engineering and Environmental Ethics fills this critical gap, providing you with a reliable compass to help steer a safe course through the welter of governing laws and regulations, while balancing personal and professional obligations with the more global concerns of the environment and society.

This book offers the opportunity to learn directly from your colleagues' experiences through more than 100 absorbing case studies that typify common ethical problems encountered by engineers. Taking a neutral viewpoint for each case, the authors supply helpful commentaries in which they address underlying philosophical issues, weigh the various pros and cons of possible responses, and offer expert opinions on how the problem could have been resolved better or differently. The cases are organized both by engineering specialty (chemical, civil, electrical, and mechanical) and by environmental concerns (air, water, solid waste, domestic, and safety and accident management).

Engineering and Environmental Ethics is a valuable professional resource for practitioners in all engineering specialties, as well as corporate policymakers and environmental managers. It can also serve as an excellent primary or secondary text for engineering students enrolled in professional ethics courses.

JOHN R. WILCOX, PhD, is the founding director of the Center for Professional Ethics at Manhattan College, and head of the ethics program of the Commodities Exchange Center and the Futures Industry Institute.

LOUIS THEODORE, MChE, EngScD, is Professor of Chemical Engineering at Manhattan College in Riverdale, New York. Dr. Theodore is an internationally respected government and industry consultant on pollution control and environmental management.