Excerpt from The Engineer in War: With Special Reference to the Training of the Engineer to Meet the Military Obligations of Citizenship In presenting this volume to the engineering profession, the author does not aim to provide a treatise on military field engi neering. A number of excellent manuals and text-books are in existence, most of which are well adapted to study by the civilian engineer. After all, military field engineering, as its name implies, is a practical art and cannot be acquired by study alone. Engineering plays so important a part in all the operations of warfare that it is perhaps no exaggeration to say that modern war is an application of engineering science to the armed conflicts of states. Those who have considered our military policy cannot have failed to observe how greatly it depends upon the voluntary service of our citizens. The rights and privileges of citizenship carry with them the obligation of service to the state. But the mere tacit recognition of a duty does not insure its efficient dis charge. If we acknowledge a duty we must acknowledge the necessity of preparing to perform it. If we do not prepare we are evading our duty. Practical patriotism then ceases to exist and national defense becomes a term without meaning. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.