我们知道我们是谁;万博体育平台从事各种工程和科学活动的机械师。不管玫瑰叫什么名字，闻起来都一样香，但在普通人的词汇中，“应用机械师”和“机械师”确实会让人联想到修理割草机、汽车发动机、管道和空调的人。万博体育平台有一种感觉是，这损害了我们作为一个社区提高对我们活动的认识和支持。美国理论与应用力学全国委员会在过去几年中讨论了这个问题，寻找一个具有良好公关价值的替代名称，同时又能充分反映我们所做的事情。这些建议——工程科学、机械科学等——被认为要么太宽泛，要么太狭隘。也许我们可以在iMechanica上举办一场比赛。万博manbetx平台

如果我们关心公众对" mechanics "这个词的看法，也许我们应该看看Google这个领先的大众智慧集大成者。今天早上，我在搜索窗口中输入“define: mechanics”，这里是前三个结果:

• 关于参照系中物体运动的物理学分支
• 机制:做某事的技术方面;“社会控制机制”;“沟通机制”;“散文风格的力学”wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn
• mechanics指的是:与机械有关的工艺(源自拉丁语mechanicus，源自希腊语mechanikos，意为“精通机器的人”);或者#一系列科学和工程学科。 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mechanics

如果我们接受Google作为公众意见的聚合者，那么我们可能对人们对机制的看法给予了太少的信任。毕竟，力学是高中的一门学科，甚至可能在低年级也会被提及。这种大众教育或许反映在谷歌列表上的定义1中。

我很高兴我最喜欢的定义出现在定义2中。 This definition is a high-level description of what we do: we figure out mechanisms of technical things. How birds fly, how earth quakes, how computer chips fail, and how buildings fall. Some of us are more directly concerned with these questions, others develop tools for the trade.

I wish Google could split Definition 3 into two distinct entries: a craft relating to machinery, and a range of disciplines in Science and Engineering. Many of us belong to the latter, but I for one have high regard for the former. I believe that both Pradeep and John also do. Perhaps the issue for them is that the word mechanics means too many things to people. But from the Google list, they are all good things! Why should we be even bothered by a little vagueness?

As a compensation for being vague, we are more inclusive. After reading the comments of Pradeep and John, I modified a sentence in my original post. Now it reads,

I'm proudly a mechanician. So is Ted. So was Bernie. So were Wright Brothers, Watt, Newton and Galileo, as well as inventors of elevators and wheels and knives. I feel something like a kinship with them all.