To many minds, structural engineering seems to be limited to the conception and analysis and detailed embodiment of structural systems. And there is no doubt that this is the very core of our science. Obviously the art is concerned with the application of the science, but it is also concerned with wider issues; social and political issues such as the particular purpose for which the system is intended, the need for it, the resources which are required to realise it and the consequences of its realisation. And also, even if in self interest, creating a demand for buildings which need the sort of structures which we would like to design.
Peter Dunican