Hacker News Reader

I've often thought of the difference between science and engineering as, "can we do it?" Vs "how much will it cost to do it?"

I sometimes split it up a little further.

Science, "can it even be done?"

Engineering, "can we do it?"

Business, "what's it going to cost? can we afford it?"

Marketing, "what can we sell it for?"

Sales: "we already sold it for December, it will be ready, right ?"

Consultant (present for 3 seconds at start of project): "Delivered first commercial system for X revolutionizing Y market."

Engineering is the science of “good enough”.

The most important lesson I got from 5 years of Engineer School was the Pareto principle a.k.a. The 80-20 rule