Science discovers and understands truths about the greater world, from the human

genome to the expanding universe. Engineering, for its part, solves problems for
people and society.
C. D. Mote, Jr., President, US National Academy of Engineering

Confidence in the ability of science and technology to solve problerns has been
high, and continues to be high, so you may be surprised to see this chapter on
how science and engineering contribute to the unsustainability of human activ-
ities. Like the roles of economics and business activities that we covered in the
previous two chapters, the role of science and engineering is also mixed. On the
one hand, advances in science and engineering have played a significant role in
enhancing human well-being and in addressing environmental challenges, as we
saw in Chapter 1. However, on the other hand, many scientific and engineering
advances have been responsible for substantial environmental harrn and unsus-
tainable activities, and have been major contributors to the trends covered in
Chapter 2. In this chapter we will focus on understanding sorne of the underly-
ing reasons for the negative irnpacts of science and engineering. This insight will
include:

• the attitude of science and engineering toward the environrnent;

• the resulting approach; and
• the outcomes of this approach.

Such an understanding plays a critical role in rnethods to evaluate and ensure

that science and engineering contribute to sustainable development. We will learn
about these rnethods in the rest of the book.

The airn of science is to understand the natural world, while that of engineering is
to use this understanding to develop solutions for satisfying human needs. Thus,
as conveyed by the quote at the beginning of this chapter, science understands or
discovers what is already there and engineering innovates or invents new ideas
and technologies that may never have existed before. These goals are hallmarks
 6.1 TheAttitude 113'

of human activity and have most likely been pursued since the beginning of our
pecies. Before the advent of modern science and engineering, powered by fossil
fuels, these activities tended to work with nature. This is still the case in many
traditional societies, as we will learn in Chapter 20.
However, modern science has developed with an attitude of dominating nature
and improving upon it, and modern engineering is the way of making this happen.
This attitude is conveyed in the foliowing quote from a speech delivered over 100
years ago by Rossiter Raymond, a decorated member of the Society of Chemical
Industry, Chemists' Club [11.

What is Engineering? The control of nature by man. Its motto is the primal one -
"Replenish the earth and subdue it" . . . Is there a barren desert - irrigate it; is there a
mountain barrier - pierce it; is there a rushing torrent - harness it. Bridge the rivers; sail
the seas; apply the force by which al! things fali, so that it sha!l iift things . . . Nay, be
"more than conqueror" as he is more who does not merely s!ay or capture, but makes
loyal alijes of those whom he has overcome! Appropriate, annex, absorb, the powers of
physical nature into human nature!

With such an attitude, much of the science and engineering of the last few cen-
tunes has developed with the intention of conquering nature and improving it.
Examples are easy to find and include the fo!lowing. For controlling the flow and
availability of water, we build dams and canais, straighten rivers, and dram wet-
lands. For controlling pests and maximizing the yield of desired farm products, we
develop pesticides, weedicides, and genetica!ly modified crops. For ensuring the
supply of nutrients to plants, we have developed commercial nitrogen fixation by
the Haber-Bosch process. There is no doubt that such advances have resulted in
a tremendous improvement in our understanding of how the natural world works
and in controlling our environment, which have played central roles in enhanc-
ing our well-being. For example, the Haber-Bosch process is considered to be the
most important invention of the twentieth century since it "detonated the popu-
lation explosion" {2], and the development of vaccines and medicines has saved
and enhanced millions of lives.
Since this attitude has been deeply ingrained over several decades, most sci-
entists and engineers ignore nature and take it for granted as being limitless and
free. As we saw in Chapter 1, industrial activities cannot be sustained without
ecosystem goods and services, but with this attitude of ignoring or undervaluing
the role of nature, engineers rarely consider the importance of these services
and their status. Keeping part of an interconnected system outside the decision
boundary usually means that this igno red part of the system may deteriorate, and
this deterioration is not recognized until it is too late. For example, if the role
of groundwater recharge is not included in the decision boundary, aquifers are
likely to be overused, which may not be realized before there is a significant
114 6 Science, Engineering, and the Environment

decline in the groundwater level. Similarly, ignoring the capacity of the bio-
sphere to mitigate CO2 emissions means that the ecosystem service of climate
regulation may be disrupted, as has already happened. This attitude of ignoring
nature may be explained because, as discussed in Section 3.3, the basics of mod-
em science and engineering were developed in an "empty" world. These basic
principies and the underiying paradigm need to be modified for today's "fuil"
world.
In addition to taking nature for granted, scientists, engineers, and soci-
ely at large also often assume that technology can always be developed to
solve problems, including the problem of deteriorating ecosystems. Without
any doubt, science and engineering have been amazingly successful at devel-
oping ah kinds of technologies to address the depletion of various resources,
and to enable their efficient use. However, as we learned in Section 4.4, most
ecosystem goods and services cannot be substituted at aH or in any reasonable
manner by means of technology. These include fundamental ecoiogical pro-
cesses that sustain our well-being. Therefore, finding technological soiutions to
replace degraded ecosystems and the services that they provide seems highly
unlikely.
A possible side-effect of this attitude of science and engineering is the relatively
low ecological literacy of many scientists and engineers. This lack of appreciation
among engineers of the services from nature means that deterioration of ecosys-
tems and loss of their ability to provide essential goods and services are not sources
of much worry for many mainstream scientists and engineers. The result is that,
except for ecoiogists, most other scientists and engineers pay little attention to and
have limited knowledge of the complexities of the very systems that sustain us on
Earth. Thus, an ignorance of nature combined with the arrogance of being able
to conquer, control, and replace it are common underlying reasons behind how
science and engineering can encourage unsustainable activities. Note that eco-
logical ignorance in taking nature for granted was also the reason, identified in
Chapter 4, why economics contributes to unsustainability. Thus, taking nature for
granted is emerging as a common reason for unsustainable human activities. We
will revisit this many times in this book, including when we learn about solutions
for sustainability in Part IV.
With the increasing impact of human activities, the fallacy of the attitude of
taking nature for granted and as an infinite source and sink is slowly becom-
ing clear to many. Gradually, the attitude of science and engineering is moving
from "nature the adversary" to "nature the mentor:' This transformation poses
many challenges and opportunities, and is giving rise to unique approaches
for sustainable engineering that we will learn about in later chapters of this
book.
 6.2 TheApproach 115

e Approac

6.2.1 Reductionism
Many advances in science have arisen because researchers have specialized their
studies to consider smaller and smaller components of a system, understanding
individual components and then manipulating them to affect the larger system.
This philosophy of scientific reductionism is pursued with the expectation that the
behavior of things can be explained by knowing how their constitutive compo-
nents behave and interact. This philosophy considers the whole to be equal to the
sum of its parts. Examples of reductionist science include studying the behavior
of individual particles or molecules and their interaction using Newton's laws of
motion to determine the macroscopic properties of a substance made up of these
particles or molecules. This approach is commonly used in methods such as molec-
ular thermodynamics to understand and develop new materials. Another example
is the effort to decipher the stmcture of DNA in each organism, and then to look
for correlations with speciñc characteristics of the organism. The resulting insight
is the basis of genetically modified organisms such as Roundup-ready soybean,
which is produced by inserting a gene for resistance to the weedicide glyphosate
(N-(phosphonomethyl) glycine) in the soybean genome. This gene is obtained
from microorganisms found to be resistant to glyphosate, whose commercial
name is Roundup. This makes the soybean plant immune to glyphosate weedi-
cide, while the weeds remain susceptible. Such reductionist thinking has resulted
in groundbreaking technological advances that have contributed to enhancing
human well-being and material wealth.
However, such thinking also encourages extremely narrow specialization, and a
lack of the ability to see the "big picture" that is required for reducing the chance
of unintended consequences, and for satisfying the requirements for sustainability
discussed in Chapter 3. The popular fable of Six Blind Men and the Elephant con-
veys the shortcomings of reductionism, and is presented in Box 6.1. The history
of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) described in Box 2.1 also demonstrates the use of
reductionist thinking that focuses mainly on the chemical, physical, and toxico-
logical properties of this class of compounds. The ozone hole was due to factors
beyond those considered at that time: the effect of the widespread and dissipative
use of these compounds, their interaction with the ozone layer, and the scale of
their use were not considered. The green revolution of the 1970s, which led to
the adoption of high-yield crop varieties and increases in global food production,
was also based on reductionist research. These crops required high fertilizer and
pesticide use and have increased food production, but have also resulted in many
negative and unintended side-effects such as water contamination, deterioration
of soil quality, depletion of groundwater, aquatic dead zones, etc. The scale of
116 6 Science, Engineering, and the Environment

Six bhnd men encounteran elephant. Being blind, they don't know what it is and
figure it out One man pulis at the elephant's tau and thinks that what they have encountered
us a rope Another man pushes on the legs and thinks they have found tree trunks The third 3)'

feels the pointed tusks and thinks of them as spears The trunk seems to be a snake, añd the
body us a brick walt The sux men reach very different conclusuons about what they have
encountered and alt of them faul to see the "big" picture and cannot figure out thatthey ha'Y
encountered an elephant.
This fable illustrates the folly of reductionust thinking The sux blind men are like dufferent'(
reductionist thinkers, research areas, or disciplines, who don t communicate with each othjZ
and are unable to see the broader umplications of their activities This fable was captured,
verse by John Godf rey Saxe part of which us reproduced below

And so these men of lndostan

Disputed loúd and long,
Each in his own opinion
Exceeding stiff and strong,
Though each WáS partly in the right,
And alt were in the wrong!

these negative impacts is so large, as we saw in Chapter 2, that even sorne of its
key proponents now consider it to be unsustainable.
Another more recent exampe of reductionist engineering that may be run-
ning into trouble is related to the introduction of genetically modified organisms
(OMOs). With genetic engineering it has become possible to engineer the genome
of species to introduce new properties. Examples include rice with higher vitamin
content, tomatoes with a longer shelf-life, and crops resistant to specific herbi-
cides. A widely adopted QMO is Bt-cotton. This is a form of cotton in which
a toxin-producing gene from the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) is incor-
porated into the cotton genome. The resulting Bt-cotton naturaily produces the
toxin that kilis the larvae of its common pests. Thus, Bt-cotton is often claimed to
be environmentally friendlier than conventional cotton as it requires less use of
pesticides, and it has been widely adopted ah over the world. Side-effects of this
large-scale adoption of Bt-cotton that are now being detected include an increase
in the population of pests that are not affected by the Bt toxin. This requires the
use of sorne pesticides, but less than what would have been used in conventional
cotton. Field studies are showing the evolution of resistance in pests to the Bt
toxin, raising fears of unexpected side-effects [3]. This approach is reductionist
 6.2 TheApproach 11'

because it combines genes from different organisms to produce transgenic organ-

isms that are expected to have the combined próperties of both genetic codes. As
discussed in Box 6.2, this need not be the case. We will learn in Section 6.2.2 that
the non-reductionist or holistic approach would be quite different. Unfortunately,
such reductionist research and decision making and its unintended harm continue
to be commonplace.
The limits of reductionism are most apparent for systems that demonstrate
properties such as nonhinearity, complexity, and emergence. These are systems
where the "whole is greater than the sum of the parts." Examples of such sys-
tems include the national or global economy, ecological systems such as a tropical
•rain forest, and behavior of groups such as crowds of people or swarms of birds.
Many such systems possess so many parts that knowing ah the parts and under-
standing them in a manner that permits the modeling of macroscopic behavior is
impossible.

6.2.2 Holism
To address the shortcomings of reductionist thinking, the last few decades have
witnessed the growth of systems thinking, which focuses on the whole by under-
standing the interaction and links between its components. Such holistic thinking
is represented in engineering by approaches used to design and operate manufac-
turing processes. Here, for proper design and operation, it is necessary not just to
understand and design individual equipment, but also to account for its interac-
tion with other equipment so that the manufacturing process produces products
while meeting multiple goals such as quality, safety, and profitability.
A reductionist approach to process design may focus on maximizing reactor
conversion without considering the challenges of the separation problem and
recycling of unreacted components. However, a holistic approach accounts for
the presence of recycle loops that permit reuse of the reactants, and such an
approach may prefer operation with lower conversion. A reductionist approach
for designing a building would choose technologies to ensure comfort, energy
efficiency, and aesthetics. A more hohistic approach would consider the perfor-
mance of the entire building and also consider the role of the surroundings such
as local trees, wetlands, and other ecological components in improving heating
and cooling efficiency, air quality, and well-being of the building occupants. Simi-
larly, a holistic approach for new product development would consider the broader
implications of the product, such as its environmental impact, social acceptance,
and ability to satisfy human needs, in addition to its ability to make money for
the company. The use of such an approach for the development of new refrig-
erants described in Box 2.1 could have considered the loss of CFC molecules
and their interaction with different parts of the environment. However, given the
1 12 6 Science, Engtneering, and the Environment

The approach of breeding plants to enhance desired traits was the basis of the green
revolution of the 1 970s. More recent efforts are developing geneticaUy modified plants that
are often claimed to constitute a second green revolution. These efforts have been of a
reductionist nature, since the goals of the plant breeder community have been to increase crop
yield per plant, increase resistance to pests, or change the nutrition content. Such approaches
have been highly successful in developing hybrid varieties and more recently genetically
modified varieties of many species A more holistic view of these efforts from the
thermodynamic point of view can easily reveal that the creation of unexpected and sometimes
undesirable side-effects is inevitable. This is so because, regardless of its genetic makeup, the
ability of the plants to metabolize resources is limited by ts photosynthetic efficiency, which is
determined by the underlying biochernistry and physiology [4]. Plant breeding changes how
the plant uses material and energy resources, but it cannot violate the laws of
thermodynamics, which means that no new material or energy can be created. Thus,
enhancing one property often rneans giving up on sorne other traits. Plants that have a high
crop yield are less capable of resisting pests or competirig for nutrients from the soil. In the
first green revolution, farmers had to take over the responsibility for these activities. This was
done by using artificial fertilizers and pesticides. Developing plants with high yield, but less
demand for pesticides, fertilizers, and weedicides, as is often claimed for the second green
revolution, rneans that sorne other plant characteristic will be reduced because of the first law.
Continuing with systems thinking, we would also consider how plants and other species
would evolve in an agroecosystem. Under evolutionary pressures, pests and weeds developed
resistance to pesticides and weedicides, respectively, during the first green revolution, and
that is also happening with second-generation plants. lndustry response so far has been to
use a stronger cocktail of weedicides, thus elirninating the claimed benefits of genetic
modification, or relying on further genetic modification that makes the plants tolerate other
weedicides. For example, with increasing resistance to glyphosate, new genetically modified
plants are resistant to glyphosate and dicamba (3,6-dichloro-2-methoxybenzoic acid). Thus,
even the newer plants seem to involve the toxic treadmill that was pursued by farrners with
the earlier hybrid varieties. Holistic thinking indicates that the solution for increasing yield
along with pest and weed resistance may require going away from monocultures to
polycultures, where multiple species are planted together in a manner that ernulates a natural
ecosystem Such methods were practiced in traditional societies as we will learn in Chapter
20. Adapting such techniques to the rnodern world while still meeting global fóod
requirements is a formidable challenge.
 6.2 TheApproach 119

knowledge at the time of their development, it is likely that even a holistic

approach would not have resulted ilt predictions of stratospheric ozone deple-
tion. However, with a holistic view, scientists and engineers might have paid
more attention to the release of these brand new molecules into the environment,
monitored their effect, been more willing to accept the possibility of unexpected
surprises, and been better prepared to respond.
In the case of genetically modified organisms, discussed in Section 6.2.1, the
holistic approach would be quite different. It would assess the results of reduc-
tionist research, such as the development of Bt-cotton, for its effects other than
just increasing the yield of cotton or reducing the use of pesticides, as described
in Box 6.2. It may also consider more holistic farming practices that overcome the
shortcomings of intensive monoculture farming.
An imp ortant advantage of holistic approaches is their ability to identify emer-
gent properties or behavior. Emergent properties cannot be determined just by
understanding the behavior of individual components. An example of such prop-
erties is that water molecules have very different properties from those of its
constituent atoms, hydrogen and oxygen. Another example is that the behaviors of
crowds of people, traffic, flocks of birds, and swarms of fish are often very different
from those of individuals. Many such systems exhibit patterns such as traveling
waves and threshold effects. A further example of such a phenomenon involving

Figure 6.1 Starling murmuration [51. Image credit: Walter Baxter / A murmuration of starlings at Gretna
/CCBY-SA2.O.
120 6 Science, Engineering, and the Environment

emergent behavior is that of the murmuration of birds, illustrated in Figure 6.1.

The inability of reductionist methods to model or predict emergent properties can
be a significant bottleneck in their ability to determine the broader implications
of reductionist science and technology. Modeis of holistic complex systems can be
developed, but they often lack the accuracy of the modeis produced by reduction-
ist systems, and can only provide general insight unto the behavior of the system.
Such insight can still be very useful, and these methods are increasingly common
in the management of complex systems such as business organizations, the stock
market, and socioecological systems.
Many traditional methods used in societies before the advent of Westem science
were holistic in nature, as we will learn in Chapter 19. However, modern science
has been mostly reductionist for the last few centuries. The importance of holistic
methods is being rediscovered, mainly since World War II, and has resulted in the
development of systems science and systems engineering, and 110W sustainable
engineering.

e Outcome 1
.

The attitude of science and engineering, of taking nature for granted and wanting
to dominate it, combined with an approach based on a narrow reductionist per-
spective, has resulted in many outcomes that are unsustainable. These outcomes
are usually justified or encouraged by the goal of businesses and governments to
satisfy economic objectives, which also take nature for granted as we saw in Chap-
ter 4. Examples of such outcomes include the heavy reliance 011 nonrenewable
resources, the accumulation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, and degrada-
tion and the erosion of fertile soil. We discussed many such issues in Chapter 2, and
most of them can be traced to some contributions from science and engineering.
A question that should arise is this: if the shortcomings of reductionist methods
are known, how can we overcome them? Why do we still continue to develop
"solutions" based on reductionist thinking? The rise and fail of many reductionist
technologies tends to involve the following steps, as articulated by Lovins [6].

1. Scientific and technical challenges attract scientists to explore and develop

the technology. With research effort and government funding, the ability of
the technology to solve a problem is demonstrated in the laboratory. Once the
technology attracts venture capital, large government grants, and promoters,
the promoters promise its societal benefits and often shield the technology
from dissent and independent assessment.
2. As people find out more about the technology, questions are raised. Public
relations efforts attempt to deflect these questions.
 6.3 The Outcome 121

3. As the negative side-effects become better known or as more questions are

raised, public relations effórts become ineffective and are replaced by efforts
to hide the use of the technology.
4. IEither alternatives are developed or people realize the beneñts of earlier
technologies and prefer them. The new technology becomes economically
infeasible or gets regulated, causing it to gradually fade away. However, its
negative side-effects linger in the environment and society, while the positive
benefits, usually in the forrn of greater wealth, accrue to a few. This may even
result in a tragedy of the commons such as the ozone hole due to
chlorofluorocarbons.

Wel1-known examples of the aboye steps include pesticides in the 1960s,

chloro-fluorocarbons in the 1970s and 1980s, first-generation biofuels, and
possibly sorne GMOs and nonrenewable fuels now.
Fortunately, the fallacy of the attitude and approach of science and engineer-
ing is being realized, and new rnethods and efforts that utilize the principies
of systems science to address the challenges of sustainable development are
being developed. One outcome is the field of sustainability science and engi-
neering that is the subject of this book. Many approaches from this fleid
are described in the rest of the book, from Part III onwards. As we learned
in Chapter 5, such methods are being adopted by industry, governrnent, and
investors.
In practice, reductionist and holistic approaches are both needed and should
work together, as illustrated in Figure 6.2. Reductionist approaches are needed
to explore and develop new alternatives, while holistic approaches are needed to
assess the alternatives from a sustainability standpoint and to provide feedback
to reductionist researchers about the shortcomings of the alternatives, in order to
spur more reductionist research to overcome them.

New and improved

technologies

Reductionist Holistic
research research

Sustainability assessment;
opportunities for improvement
Figure 6.2 Desired interaction between reductionist and holistic research.
122 6 Science, Engineering, and the Environment

Science and engineering have played a critical role in meeting human needs but
have also been contributors to unsustainable activities. The attitude of being bet-
ter than nature and ignoring it, combined with the approach of reductionism, are
key factors that have contributed to unsustainable technological developments.
The lack of sustainability has often come as an unexpected surprise in seem-
ingly promising developments. This understanding is now being used to develop
methods that seek harmony with nature and attempt to prevent unintended harm
by integrating reductionist and holistic science and considering interactions with
systems beyond the conventional boundaries of science and engineering.

Key Ideas and Concepts

• Dominating nature • Reductionism
• Holism • Emergent behavior

6.5 Review Quesflons

1. What has been the traditional attitude of engineering toward ecosystems?

2. Give two examples each of reductionist and holistic thinking.
3. Provide sorne advantages and disadvantages of reductionist research.
4. Give an example of emergent behavior.
5. What did the six blind men consider the elephant's trunk to be? Why?

Problems

6.1 The development of high-yielding crop varieties has been an active area of
research for many years. It has resulted in various hybrid varieties that have
played an important role in the green revolution for meeting global food
demand. However, it has also contributed to the contamination and
depletion of aquifers, as discussed in Chapter 2.
1. Is the development of high-yielding crops a reductionist or holistic
activity?
2. How could the development of new seeds be done to reduce its negative
side-effects?
6.2 The Haber-Bosch process produces ammonia (NH3 ) by means of the
foliowing reaction: N2 ± 3H2 -± 2NH3. For a process to be economically
feasible, 98 percent of the hydrogen moles fed to the entire system need to
 6.5 Review Questions 123

be converted into arnmonia. Also, the least expensive reactor design

converts 10 pefient of the hydrogen into ammonia. The foliowing questions
address the effect of the system boundary on reactor design.
1. Consider only a single reactor in which this reaction takes place. To
produce 100 moles per hour of ammonia, calcuiate the arnount of
hydrogen and the minimum amount of nitrogen that must be fed to the
reactor to obtain the specified overali conversion of 98 percent.
2. Now consider a reactor followed by a separator, and recycie streams that
return unreacted hydrogen and nitrogen back to the reactor. Is it possible
to operate this reactor at 10 percent efficiency while achieving 98
percent overali conversion and 100 moles per hour of ammonia
production?
3. What does the difference in reactor efficiencies for these two cases teil
us about the disadvantages of considering only part of a system in the
design?
6.3 The "Game of Life" developed by John Conway consists of uve or dead
squares on a grid. It is implemented by sorne simple rules, such as the
foliowing.
• For a square that is alive or populated,
- a celi with one or no neighbors dies due to ioneliness
- a celi with four or more neighbors dies due to overpopulation
- a ce!! with two or three neighbors survives.
• For a square that is dead or unpopuiated,
- a ceil with three neighbors becomes popu!ated.
Several online implementations of this game are available. With the help of
one of these impiementations, answer the foliowing questions.
1. Is each rule reductionist or hoiistic?
2. Run the game for sorne of the patterns. You may also create your own
patterns. Identify sorne stabie patterns that appear over time.
3. Why are these patterns examples of emergent behavior?
This simple game has led to many sophisticated tools for rnodeling compiex
systems by methods such as agent-based modeling.
6.4 The Twelve Principies of Green Chemistry shown in Box 17.2 were
developed to incorporate sustainability considerations in chemistry. Discuss
at least three of these principies in terms of whether they are encouraging
chemistry toward more holistic thinking.
6.5 The Evergiades in Florida used to be a large, slow-moving body of water
between Lake 0kechobee and the Atlantic Ocean. These wetlands were
drained, starting from about 1850, to develop farmland and for urban
deve!opment. This was done by building canais that sped up the flow of
water. The common attitude during the period of its draining was that the
124 6 Science, Engineering, and the Environment

swamp did not have rnuch use and caused pestilence. However, since 1990,
the Evergiades restoration project is working tóward removing the canais
and siowing down the ftow of water to its natural state. Explain how the
engineering attitude may have contributed to the draining of this swamp,
and how holistic thinking may have contributed to recent efforts for its
restoration.
6.6 Coastal regions of the world where rivers meet the ocean are constantly
undergoing gain and loss of land due to the deposition of sediment carried
by rivers and to erosion, respectively. The loss of land in coastal Louisiana
has been greatly accelerated by human activities, as conveyed by the
foliowing quote from the website of the Coastal Wetlands Planning,
Protection and Restoration Act:
with construction of extensive levee systems along the Mississippi River to
maintain navigation and reduce flooding of adjacent homes and businesses, the
Mississippi River has been confined to a small portion of its original flood plain.
The levees have prevented coastal wetlands from receiving the regular
nourishment of riverine water, nutrients and sediment that are crítica! to coastal
wetland survival. In addition, the declining sediment load in the Mississippi River,
due to upstream dams on the river and its tributaries, results in less sediment
available for coastal marsh nourishment to compensate for subsidence (Kesel
1988). The amount of sediment currently being carried by the Mississippi River is
only 50% of that carried during historic delta building conditions (Kesel 1988,
Kesel 1989, Kesel et al. 1992, Mossa 1996).
Discuss the role of engineering in contributing to this loss by building
levees, dams, and other infrastructure. How may the engineering attitude
and approach have contributed to the development and implementation of
such designs? Suggest an approach that is likely to be less harmful to the
environment but can still meet at least sorne of the human needs.
6.7 Mosquitoes are responsible for spreading many deadly diseases in the
world, such as malaria, dengue fever, and the Zika virus. One technology
proposed to address the spread of such mosquito-borne diseases is to release
genetically modified malemosquitoes into the wild. These mosquitoes
would breed with females and weaken their offspring due to their modified
DNA. The result would be a decrease in the population of mosquitoes, and a
lower prevalence of the diseases. Field tests in Brazil have shown a decline
of 82 percent in the mosquito population. Also, this technology is claimed
to have fewer side-effects than the current use of insecticides for
controlling the mosquito population. It may even wipe out mosquitoes
entirely and make them extinct, resulting in a significant reduction of
disease among the poorest populations. Is this a holistic or reductionist
 References 125',

approach? Discuss the pros and cons if this technology is adopted more
widely than in a few controlled field trials.
6.8 In Chapter 4, we learned about free markets and their equilibria at the
intersection of the demand and supply curves. Is the concept of market
equilibrium reductionist or holistic?
6.9 'An unintended outcome of the use of plastics is ocean pollution and its
impact on marine life. Would it be fair to argue that this problem is the
result of reductionist thinking? Suggest a holistic approach that could have
prevented this problem. Also suggest approaches that can address this
problem now. Are your suggestions reductionist or holistic?
6.10 Reductionist research has contributed tremendously to improving the
efficiency of lighting technologies. However, the total energy consumed for
lighting has not decreased. Details about this are provided in Section 3.2.
Suggest ways in which reductionist research on improving technological.
efficiency could be combined with holistic research, to make sure that
efficiency improvements per Iighting device transiate into similar
improvements in total energy consumption for lighting.

References

[1] R. W. Raymond. The new age. The Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistiy,
March, 249-251, 1913.
[2]V. Smil. Enriching the Earth: Fritz Haber, Carl Bosch, and the Transformation of
World Food Production. MIT Press, 2004.
[3] B. E. Tabashnik, T. Brevault, and Y. Carriere. Insect resistance to Bt crops: lessons
from the first billion acres. Nature Biotechnology, 31(6):510-521, 2013.
[4] C. F. Jordan. Environmental Challen ges and Solutions: An Ecosystem Approach to
Sustainable Agri culture. Springer, 2013.
[5] B. Keim. The startling science of starling murmuration. Wired Magazine. www
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