Rensselaer Polytechnic and the Erie Canal

Origin of the term "civil engineering" and why Course One at MIT carries that designation.

The first engineering school in the United States was West Point in 1797 or thereabouts. And until 1845, the commandant of West Point had to come from the Corps of Engineers. In 1823, the second engineering school in the United States was formed. It's called Rensselaer Polytechnic, in Troy, New York. Anybody from Troy? Of course not — all of you live in a decent neighborhood. But Troy developed an engineering program they called civil engineering, to distinguish it from military engineering. Now we know why they're called civil engineers, when everybody says it's an oxymoron anyway. And what were they doing in New York State in 1823 that they needed civil engineers? Yes — they were building the Erie Canal. Very good. See, things sort of fit together when you understand the context. So in some ways this is also a history class.