RAZD writes:
What theory? How is it falsified?
And I would say that they are not looking to falsify the (theory), but rather to make a practical application, and they throw on a factor of safety to help guard against failure and unknown stresses ... they are using a working hypothesis.
This is what I mean by saying that engineering is the art of applying science for practical purposes.
They may get all 'sciency' in running controlled tests of things like the strengths of materials and even wear lab coats, but their purpose\focus is not to falsify theory but to find ways to make practical applications.
You're normally quite sane, you must have Faith withdrawal symptoms.
It wouldn't be possible to build modern bridges over the spans we need and materials we use, without an enormous quantity of physics. And the idea that a practitioner can not be a scientist is away with the fairies.
But enough already!
Life, don't talk to me about life - Marvin the Paranoid Android
"Science adjusts it's views based on what's observed.
Faith is the denial of observation so that Belief can be preserved."
- Tim Minchin, in his beat poem, Storm.