1. Discuss any five significant stages in the development of engineering as a profession.

Development of engineering can be described in four major stages (eras), which are categorize
according to time of the development of various machines. The eras range from Ancient, Middle,
Renaissance to Modern Era.
(i) Ancient Era

Ancient era is believed to be dating back from 2000 BC. Various engineering activities during
this era comprise the Roman aqueducts, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the pyramids of
Egypt, the Pharos of Alexandria, and the cities and pyramids of the Mayan, Indus Valley
Civilization, and the Great Wall of China. All these are skills, which were shown by the ancient
military and civil engineers.
The earliest civil engineer Imhotep was known for his contribution in design and supervision of
the construction of Pyramid of Djose in Egypt around 2630-2611 BC. He further introduced the
use of column in architectural works. The Antikythera mechanism and the mechanical inventions
of Archimedes are examples of early mechanical engineering.
(ii) Middle Era

Middle era is characterized by the five machines of pumping water built by Al-Jazari, the
machines pumped water to kings of the Turkish Artuqid dynasty and their palaces. Innovations
emerged where creative mechanical devices segmental gears, mechanical controls clocks,
robotics and protocols for designing and manufacturing methods were developed in this era.
(iii) Renaissance Era

This era can be traced back to 18th century, with the developments of the first steam engine1698
by Thomas Savery, this gave rise to industrial revolution which allowed beginning of mass
production. Also, engineering was applied to fields of mathematics furthermore in civil and
military engineering mechanic arts became incorporated into engineering.
(iv) Modern Era
Modern era is referred as modern because it includes all the engineering improvement activities
which have evolved from 19th century up to the modern life of today. There have been a lot of
evolution in the engineering field as human tend to make their environment and working space a
better place.
The inventions of Thomas Savery and the Scottish engineer James Watt gave rise to modern
Mechanical Engineering. The development of specialized machines and their maintenance tools
during the industrial revolution led to the rapid growth of Mechanical Engineering both in its
birthplace Britain and abroad.
Experiments done by Alessandro Volta in the 19th century, the experiments of Michael Faraday,
Georg Ohm and others and the invention of the electric motor in 1872 made a thrust in electrical
engineering. Francis Ronald created the first working electric telegraph system in 1816 and
documented his vision of how the world could be transformed by electricity. The later inventions
of the vacuum tube and the transistor James Maxwell further accelerated the development of
Electronics to such an extent that electrical and electronics engineers currently outnumber their
colleagues of any other Engineering specialty.
Aeronautical Engineering deals with aircraft. Its origins can be traced back to the aviation
pioneers around the turn of the 20th century although the work of Sir George Cayley has recently
been dated as being from the last decade of the 18th century. Early knowledge of aeronautical
engineering was largely empirical with some concepts and skills imported from other branches
of engineering. Only a decade after the successful flights by the Wright brothers, the 1920s saw
extensive development of aeronautical engineering through development of World War I
military aircraft. Meanwhile, research to provide fundamental background science continued by
combining theoretical physics with experiments.
Chemical Engineering developed in the 19th century during the Industrial Revolution. Industrial
scale manufacturing demanded new materials and new processes and by 1880 the need for large
scale production of chemicals was such that a new industry was created, dedicated to the
development and large scale manufacturing of chemicals in new industrial plants. The role of the
chemical engineer was the design of these chemical plants and processes.
In 1990, with the rise of computer technology, computer engineer Alan Emtage built the first
search engine.
Lastly in engineering education field, the first PhD in engineering was awarded in the United
States to Willard Gibbs at Yale University in 1863; it was also the second PhD awarded in
science in the U.S.
3. Enumerate the Marxist theory of law.

Marxist Theory, also known as the communist theory of law, was proposed by Carl Marx and
Engel. The theory considers law as an instrument of suppression its main function being to
secure power relationship; essentially so as to further the ends of the economically dominant
class of society at the expense of the suppressed class.
According to Marxists, private property is the basis for the coming into existence of law and
state. They provide that property was the cause for creation of classes in the society in which
those who have the means of production can exploit those who do not have these means by
making laws to protect the private property. They base their arguments on the fact that there was
neither law nor state in primitive society for there was no private property. The theory has the
assumption that people can attain a perfect equality at the communism stage in which there
would be no private property, no state and no law. Some of the Propositions of Marxists theory
includes:
Law is essentially one form of politics and the two are inseparable;

Law and state are closely related but law exhibits relative autonomy from the state;

Law in its legal form replicates the prevailing economic relations;

Law has in it a coercive element and manifests the states monopoly of the means of coercion;

The contents and procedure of law reflects the interest of dominant class or the power – block;

Law is ideological and provides legitimation for the inherent values of the dominant class.

It is however important to note that the Marxist view about law and state has radically changed
in the preceding decades with the emergence of socialism and democracy. With these changes,
the power and authority of the state and law has considerably increased and the theory of their
withering away now stands completely discarded.