Engineering, poverty, and the earth

• Main Author: Catalano, George D.
• Format: Electronic
• Language: English
• Published: San Rafael, Calif. (1537 Fourth Street, San Rafael, CA 94901 USA) : Morgan & Claypool Publishers, c2007.
• Edition: 1st ed.
• Series: Synthesis lectures on engineering, technology, and society ; #4.
• Subjects: Engineering ethics.; Engineering > Social aspects.; Environmental degradation.; Environmental engineering.; Poverty > United States.; Poverty.
• Online Access: View fulltext via EzAccess
• Item Description: Part of: Synthesis digital library of engineering and computer science.; Series from website.; Title from PDF t.p. (viewed on Oct. 10, 2008).
• Physical Description: 1 electronic document (x, 73 p.) : digital file.
• Format: Mode of access: World Wide Web.; System requirements: PDF reader.
• Bibliography: Includes bibliographical references (p. 69-72).
• ISBN: 1598292196 (electronic bk.); 9781598292190 (electronic bk.)
• Access: Abstract freely available; full-text restricted to subscribers or individual document purchasers.; Available to subscribers only.

In the present work, the growing awareness in engineering of the profession's responsibility towards the environment and the poor is considered. The following approach is taken: a brief overview of the issues of poverty particularly in the U.S. and the deterioration of the natural world with a focus on the Arctic is provided. Case studies involving New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and the status of polar bears in a time of shrinking Arctic ice cover are detailed. Recent developments in engineering related to the issues of poverty and the environment are discussed. A new paradigm for engineering based on the works of Leonardo Boff and Thomas Berry, one that places an important emphasis upon a community, is explored.