École Polytechnique as first engineering school (18th century France)

Origin of the word "engineer" as "maker of war machines" in French.

Okay, you're going to learn a number of things in this class that hopefully you didn't know. For example, you heard me say Course One — Civil Engineering — is number one. Do you know why? There's a reason. Many times there is a reason. The first engineering school in the world — some people are going to hear this other times because I find some excuse to tell it every year — was École Polytechnique in France in the 18th century. The word engineer in French means "maker of war machines." It comes from the Latin, means ingenuity and things like that, but in French, engineer meant maker of war machines.