Discussion of the method

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• TomOwens · Jul 6, 2026 · Recommends

  …works, but primarily The Existential Pleasures of Engineering), and Vincenti (What Engineers Know and How They Know It) all explore ways in which engineering can't rely on science alone. I think Koen (Discussion of the Method) puts it best, where the application of science is one heuristic that engineers may choose to draw upon.

  on “"Software Engineering" Is Not Engineering” ↗
• hblanks · Feb 11, 2011 · Recommends

  …already). But I did add HTML output, since this the web, after all, to: http://artifex.org/~hblanks/talks/2011/pep20_by_example.html * Cf. Billy Koen's enjoyable discussion of engineering heuristics, Discussion of the Method or Discussion of the Engineering Method. (Some chronicle is available at http://www.me.utexas.edu/~koen/OUP/HeuristicHistory.html)

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• zb · Jul 10, 2010 · Recommends

  I don't know if you would strictly call this a philosophy book, but one that is particularly relevant to engineers is Discussion of the Method by Billy Vaughn Koen.

  on “Ask HN: Best Philosophical Books?” ↗
• zb · Dec 11, 2015 · Recommends

  In a similar vein, I highly recommend Discussion of the Method by Billy Vaughn Koen. It's a philosophy of engineering that resolves many of the unanswered questions you'll have after reading Feyerabend, and also gives an overview of the field of philosophy of science…

  on “Philosophy of science books every computer scientist should read” ↗
• satisfice · Jan 19, 2022 · Recommends

  See Discussion of the Method by Billy Koen. He was a nuclear engineer. His definition of engineering was something like applying heuristics to solve problems.

  on “Are We Really Engineers? (2021)” ↗
• zb · Jul 31, 2010 · Mentions

  …mechanisms to keep them in check. "Wouldn't it be great if we abolished death by natural causes (and everything else stayed exactly the same)" is about as far as you can get from this. See Billy Vaughn Koen, Discussion of the Method, pp. 233-236.

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