8 February

My honours year in engineering was research on these superconductors. Great that they’re now at least at liquid nitrogen temperature. You don’t need to replace the whole grid with them, just key sections. Engineers could save the world, if we could just get the politicians out of the way. The longest-lasting empire in history was the Romans. And what was the centre of their empire? Engineering. This is much more than just about building stuff, engineering is a social thing as much as a technical thing. Many of the most successful companies in world history were run by engineers. It’s a way of organising people, as much as building things. Google is run by engineers. Apple too. Dyson. General Electric (which came out of Thomas Edison’s work), Rolls Royce, Tesla. Etc.