Quote:
Originally Posted by Fred Brackin
It's not just Gurps v. English here but in Gurps, Engineer is a design Skill. Fixing the ship is Mechanic and Mechanic (Starships) is a valid choice.
<shrug> The guy in the engine room is very reasonably called an "engineer" but the "Mr Fix-it" aspect is Mechanic in Gurps (and several other games). I first started grappling with this semantic issue back in FGU's Space Opera.
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It's a problem than the profession had too. Notice that the early schools established for this sort of training in the US are "Agricultural and Mechanical" and not "Engineering" colleges, and that one of the first disciplines to be formalized is still called "Naval Architecture". It's not until the 20th century that "Engineering" suggests a formalized design skill.