To solve their design problems engineers draw in a vast body of
knowledge about how things work. This problem-solving knowledge may
appear mundane or derivative from science, but in What Engineers Know
and How They Know It Walter G. Vincenti shows how sophisticated and
"internal" to engineering it really is-and how seemingly simple design
requirements can have complex intellectual implications. Examining
previously unstudied historical cases, Vincenti shows how engineering
knowledge is obtained and, in the book's concluding chapters, presents a
model to help explain the growth of such knowledge.