Engineering science in Glasgow : economy, efficiency and measurement as prime movers in the differentiation of an academic discipline / Ben Marsden.
Abstract:
'... I argue that for William John Macquorn Rankine, Regius Professor of Civil Engineering and Mechanics at the University of Glasgow from 1855 to 1872, the "core" of academic engineering ... was essentially science regulated by economy: a union of academically accepted sciences ... modified in a manner specifically designed to treat quantitatively the economic and financial constraints placed upon the practical engineer in the commercial environment.'
British journal for the history of science Vol. 25 (1992), p. 319-346