Famous Cases
Five Detailed Cases in which engineers or scientists showed exemplary behavior in fulfilling their professional responsibilities or acting for the public good. These cases focus on the problems that each engineer or scientist faced.
- Roger Boisjoly's attempts to avert the Challenger Disaster
- Boisjoly's narration of the events that lead to the Challenger Disaster and how he gave an alert that was ignored. This negligence caused the death of the whole tribulation of the shuttle. Includes extensive supporting material. Translation into Spanish available.
- William LeMessurier's Emergency Repair of the Structural Supports for New York City's Citicorp Tower
- An 8-part document that summarizes the story of LeMessurier and the difficult situation he faced when he discovered that the structure of the Citicorp Tower (NY), for which he had been a design and construction consultant, had to be repaired before a hurricane destroyed the building. Translation into Spanish available
- Rachel Carson's Campaign to Control the Use of Pesticides
- An account of the events that preceded the publication of Carson's Silent of Spring, a book that brought awareness of the use of pesticides to the general public. The Supporting Material includes excerpts from letters written by Carson and a bibliography. Translation into Spanish available
- Fred Cuny and Disaster Relief
- This disaster relief specialist gave up his life to help others. Our pages offer a summary of the humanitarian work he did in Biafra, Guatemala, Ethiopia, Iraq, Somalia, Bosnia, and also in Chechnya, where he disappeared. Translation into Spanish available
- Inez Austin: Protecting the Public Safety at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation
- The story of Austin and how she denied to authorize a procedure that would put in risk the general public's safety. This document is largely based on extensive communications with Austin herself.
Relevant Literature and Videos on this Topic
- The Story of the Challenger Disaster
- A videotape of Roger Boisjoly's narration of the events that lead to the disaster of the shuttle.
- A Major Malfunction
- A more extensive video resource on the Challenger story. A three-part video program and instructional module containing a pedagogical documentary about organizational politics, ethics and decision making.
- The Story of the Citicorp Tower
- A high-quality video of a lecture by LeMessurier on this topic. s