https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/40283 2026-04-05T16:47:24Z 2026-04-05T16:47:24Z Bucciarelli, Louis https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/164933 2026-02-25T03:01:14Z 2026-02-24T00:00:00Z

Pennies, Penny Pools Bucciarelli, Louis On Feburay 25, 2025, our president ordered the US Treasury to cease minting pennies. In this essay, I recount how members in Congress have tried to legislate the same - calling for rounding to the nearest nickel - but have not succeeded, some fearing that prevailing price structures (e.g., $xx.89) would leave customers on the short end of the stick over time with rounding up (customer loses) being more prevalent than rounding down (customer wins). I analyze the situation, then suggest how a “penny pool” might be used by retailers to ease the transition to a just and fair penny-less society.

2026-02-24T00:00:00Z Coulomb, Charles-Augustin (author), Louis Bucciarelli (translator) https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/143552 2022-06-27T12:32:08Z 2022-06-24T00:00:00Z

RECHERCHES THÉORIQUES ET EXPÉRIMENTALES Sur la force de torsion, & sur I'élasticité des fils de métal Coulomb, Charles-Augustin (author), Louis Bucciarelli (translator) This Memoir has two objectives: the first, to determine the elastic force of torsion of fil-aments of steel and of brass as a function of their length, their thickness, and their degree of tension. I have already had need, in a Memoir on magnetized needles printed in the ninth volume of Savans Etrangers, to determine the force of torsion of hair and of silk; but I have never occupied myself with filaments of metal, because the nature of my research led me to choose the most flexible suspensions for the same force, and I have found that the filaments of silk had incomparably more flexibility than filaments of metal. The second objective of this Memoir is to evaluate the imperfection of the elastic reaction [inelastic behavior] of filaments of metal, and to examine the consequences that one can deduce about the laws of coherence and elasticity of bodies. This translation of Coulomb's memoir on the theory governing the torsional behavior of wires and the experimental determination of how the torsional stiffness depends on wire radius and length was made for a course taught by Louis Bucciarelli and Jed Buchwald at MIT (circa 2000) in which students attempted to replicate historic experiments using only the devices and materials available at the time of the original tests. The knowledge Coulomb acquired in his investigation of the elastic behavior of filaments of metal served, in subsequent memoirs, as a basis for the construction and use of balances to study the interaction of electrically charged bodies and of magnetized needles. The translation is followed by an outline and notes on Coulomb's theoretical analysis.

2022-06-24T00:00:00Z Coulomb, Charles-Augustin (author), Louis Bucciarelli (translator) https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/143551 2022-06-25T03:19:44Z 2022-06-24T00:00:00Z

Construction et usage d'une balance électrique, fondée sur la propriété qu'ont les fils de métal, d'avoir une force de réaction de torsion proportionnelle à l'angle de torsion Coulomb, Charles-Augustin (author), Louis Bucciarelli (translator) In a memoir presented to the Academy, in 1784, I have determined from experiments the laws governing the torsional resistance of a filament of metal and I have found that this force is proportional to the angle of torsion, to the fourth power of the diameter of the suspended filament and inversely proportional to its length - all multiplied by a constant coefficient which depends on the nature of the metal and is easily determined by experiment. I have shown in the same Memoir that by means of this force of torsion, it was possible to precisely measure extremely small forces as, for example, one ten thousandths of a grain1. In the same Memoir I described a first application of this theory, seeking to evaluate the constant force attributed to adhesion in the formula for the surface friction of a solid body moving through a fluid. Today, I set before the eyes of the Academy, an electric balance constructed according to the same principles. It measures with the greatest precision the state and the electric force of a body, however weak the degree of electricity. This translation of Coulomb's memoir on electric charge was made for a course taught by Louis Bucciarelli and Jed Buchwald at MIT (circa 2000) in which students attempted to replicate historic experiments using only the devices and materials available at the time of the original tests. The "electric balance" used by Coulomb to determine that the repulsive force varied inversely as the square of the distance was built in accord with the results of experiments on the torsion of metal wires reported in a prior memoir presented to the Academy in 1784. A translation of the latter has also been posted to this collection.

2022-06-24T00:00:00Z Bucciarelli, Louis Drew, David E. https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/114609 2019-04-12T11:22:26Z 2018-04-07T00:00:00Z

Breaking Boundaries with Liberal Studies in Engineering Bucciarelli, Louis; Drew, David E. It has been three years since we held a workshop in Washington D.C to explore possibilities for establishing an innovative undergraduate degree program - a Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Studies in Engineering - that would provide an alternate, smoother pathway into engineering. In this paper, we argue that to prepare engineering graduates for today’s world, requires a grounding of students learning in the more open, reflective tradition of the liberal arts. A Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Studies in Engineering, through an integration of engineering and the liberal arts, is meant to accomplish this objective. We explain why this program is needed, the boundaries that challenge implementation, and the problems encountered (in colleges and universities we have visited as part of an NSF-funded feasibility study) in attempting to break with tradition in both the liberal arts and engineering to fuse new, much- needed connections.

2018-04-07T00:00:00Z Bucciarelli, Louis https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/112281 2019-04-11T01:51:25Z 2003-01-01T00:00:00Z

Engineering philosophy Bucciarelli, Louis Engineering and Philosophy seem two worlds apart. But things and ideas are not disjunct in thiw world and their synthesis is certainly essential in engineering design. In this book, the author explores how the concerns of philosophers are relevant to engineering thought and practice - in negotiating tradeoffs, in diagnosing failure, in constructing adequate models and simulations, and in teaching. The book is based on a number of lectures given at the Technical University of Delft, where the author was a Visiting Professor hosted by the Philosophy section and the School of Industrial Engineering Design. It was originally published by DUP Satellite; an imprint of Delft University Press, 2003.

2003-01-01T00:00:00Z Bucciarelli, Louis Drew, David Tobias, Sheila https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/96672 2019-04-11T14:08:23Z 2015-03-12T00:00:00Z

Liberal Studies in Engineering - Workshop Report Bucciarelli, Louis; Drew, David; Tobias, Sheila On the 30th and 31st of January, 2015, some sixty scholars from the humanities, arts and social sciences as well as engineering met at the National Academy of Sciences building in DC to discuss the possibilities for establishing an undergraduate, pre-professional degree program — a Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Studies in Engineering — meant to attract students undecided about choice of a major who still have sufficient interest to enroll in a program that keeps open the possibility that they might pursue a career in engineering. The workshop over the day and one-half included six sessions, each led off by a panel of from three to six project participants. The first part of this report contains summaries of panelists’ remarks. A second part provides a narrative of themes discussed and questions raised during the discussion sessions.

2015-03-12T00:00:00Z Bucciarelli, Louis https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/88026 2019-04-11T06:04:15Z 2014-06-17T00:00:00Z

Science and the Courts Bucciarelli, Louis "Science and the Courts" is a module meant to illustrate how one might teach exemplary engineering content from the perspective of the humanities and social sciences - the aim of the proposed Bachelor of Arts in "Liberal Studies in Engineering"

2014-06-17T00:00:00Z Bucciarelli, Louis https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/71008 2019-04-10T22:59:22Z 2012-06-02T00:00:00Z

Bachelor of Arts in Engineering - The Full Proposal Bucciarelli, Louis A first draft of this proposal provided the basis for remarks made as a participant in a panel at Union College's 4th Annual Symposium on Engineering & Liberal Education held in June of 2011. Over the past year I have reworked (and shortened) the piece and distributed to a number of colleagues - in the Humanities and Social Sciences as well as in Engineering - intending to provoke discussion of the possibilities for establishing a bachelor of arts degree program in 'Liberal Studies in Engineering”. In time I hope to bring together, and write up for broader distribution, the comments I have received in response.

2012-06-02T00:00:00Z Bucciarelli, Louis https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/51789 2019-04-10T16:48:15Z 2010-02-23T14:53:55Z

From Function to Structure in Engineering Design Bucciarelli, Louis Peter Kroes et al (The Empirical Turn in the Philosophy of Technology, P. Kroes & A. Meijers, (eds.) JAI, 20009 )frame the challenge of engineering design as bridging the divide between function and structure, as moving from a statement of functional requirements to the definition of (physical) structure - the latter, in large part, taking the form of design drawings, parts-lists, user manuals, and the like. I flesh out this picture, arguing that the notion of “structure” is best understood as of two sorts: There is “material structure” as the definition of the concrete material object of design as recognized above, but there is structure again in a formal sense - as abstract, engineering models and representations of the “parts” of the design (object- worlds here). It is this latter “formal structure” of the parts and their place in the whole that participants in design work to define, given the stated functional requirements of the whole. Based on a talk given at CEPHAD 2010: The Borderland Between Philosophy and Design Research, a Conference at the Danish Design School, Copenhagen, January, 2010.

2010-02-23T14:53:55Z Bucciarelli, Louis https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/49846 2019-04-10T11:27:16Z 2009-11-24T20:26:35Z

BA in Engineering - A Proposal Bucciarelli, Louis A proposal to provoke discussion of possibilities for the establishment of a Bachelor of Arts in Engineering at MIT. A proposal submitted to the d'Arbeloff Fund for Excellence in Education, MIT, Fall, 2008.

2009-11-24T20:26:35Z Bucciarelli, Louis https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/46334 2019-04-12T07:36:40Z 1999-04-01T00:00:00Z

Delta Design: Seeing/Seeing as Bucciarelli, Louis

1999-04-01T00:00:00Z Bucciarelli, Louis https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/40284 2019-04-12T09:31:48Z 2008-02-16T13:34:15Z

Ethics and Engineering Education Bucciarelli, Louis ABET recommends the study of ethics so that students acquire “an understanding of professional and ethical responsibility”. For the most part, teaching of the subject relies upon the use of scenarios - both hypothetical and “real”- and open discussion framed by the codes. These scenarios and this framing strike me as seriously deficient - lacking in their attention to the complexities of context, almost solely focused on individual agency, while reflecting too narrow and simplistic a view of the responsibilities of the practicing engineer. A critique of several exemplary scenarios, and consideration of the demands placed upon today’s professional, prompt reflection on the need for, not just a more expansive reading of the codes of ethics re what it might mean to be “responsible”, but a substantial reform of undergraduate engineering education across the board. A presentation made at a Workshop on Philosophy and Engineering, Technical University of Delft, October 2007. A much shorter version of this paper has been submitted for consideration in the EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF ENGINEERING EDUCATION  2008 Société Européenne pour la Formation des Ingénieurs (SEFI); EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF ENGINEERING EDUCATION

2008-02-16T13:34:15Z