IEE Science, Education & Technology Division: Chairman´s address. Engineering and enchantment

Magic and technology appear at first sight to be very far removed from each other. Nevertheless, both in mythology and history, the threads of magic and technology sometimes run close together, and indeed occasionally seem to be woven into a single fabric. Both magic and technology are capable of effecting highly desirable transformations, but each is also capable of unleashing powerful forces sometimes fraught with terrible dangers. For hundreds of years there has been a conflict between those who believed that technology was a benign influence helping the progress of mankind, and those who thought that it was a baneful force leading to ultimate ruin. The present argument between those who see technology as saviour and those who see it as destroyer is really a continuation of the old disagreement. But the tension is greater today than in the past because the stakes are higher; more people are affected, and more seriously, by the way in which the argument is resolved. Engineers therefore should be concerned with the likely effect of their work on society, although a responsible approach is not to be equated with one that is overcautious and unenterprising. It is impossible to avoid all risk.