Work in progress: Abstraction as a vector: Distinguishing engineering and science

A goal of the philosophy of engineering and engineering education is to more clearly distinguish engineering and engineering education from science and science education. This paper advances the suggestion that one distinction between the activities of science and engineering is the role of abstract thinking. Engineering and science both engage in abstract thinking, but the direction of the abstraction process points in different directions for the two disciplines. The view advanced in this paper may help to clarify the difference between engineering and science in a way that is less prone to value judgments based on supposed differences between pure and applied activity. Science proceeds towards abstract theory; engineering proceeds from the abstract idea of function.