The Standpoint of Applied or Engineering Geology

Abstract

This paper contemplates to bring the engineering geology in relief at its standpoint between natural sciences and practical works in the light that it plays coherent role in the continuous field from geology as a natural science to construction works on the series of science of energy, whereas economic geology lies in the series of science of materials from geology to mining industry.
1. Situation of natural sciences and engineering in relation to social living.
Though social living is related to each division of liberal arts at its very foundation, its relations to natural sciences are taken up to consider its relation to geology. The collected relation is listed in Table 1.
Situation of technics, engineering, technology, engineering sciences and applied sciences are explained in relation to natural sciences and to social livings in Table 2, taking up the series of medical works and zoology agriculture and botany and then dissolving and synthetic chemical industries and chemistry to let the standpoint of applied or engineering geology more familiar among these fields.
2. Geology as a pure science in relation to other natural sciences.
There are two attitudes of science to research into nature, the one being energetic (classical physics) and the other being materialistic (classical chemistry). Besides these, natural sciences have branches classified according to their objects as shown in Table 3.
Geology had mainly followed the materialistic way in its developing course and the energetic way had been left rather scanty which has had important bearing upon engineering connection to construction works. Soil- and rock mechanics, geomechanics and main part of structural geology are to fill up this field.
3. Geology in relation to practical works.
Geology in the way of materialistic science has had deep contribution to mining industry through oil-, coal- and are deposit geology that are grouped into economic geology which initially had been called applied geology.
This series lies as a continuous field of engineering in wide sense covering geological field from scientific geology, applied and engineering sciences, technology, engineering in narrow sense, technics to mining industry, and has had much distinguished contributions as science and technology.
On the other hand geology in the way of energetic science lies as a basis for applied geology, engineering geology, geotechnology, geological engineering and construction works as shown in Table 5.
The latter series is also a continuous field which is to relate geology to construction works on/in the earth crust as the engineering of the earth crust i.e. geological engineering. This field can also or rather should be taken up for research purposes as well as for practical purposes.
4. Nature and classification of construction works.
Construction works place their ultimate purpose on the promotion of civilization in common. Then they are the civilly works in their nature which can be classified into the following four categories in principle, and the engineering for construction works is no less than the civil engineering. Therefore applied geology on this series is rightly called civil engineering geology : (1) improvement of living circumstances, (2) traffics, (3) utilization of energy in nature and (4) management of energy in nature.
Their objects, major contents, main structures built in them, kind of elementary works and technology or engineering at their bases are tabulated in Tables 6-9 to see the more important and common engineering bases to construct structures on/in the crust of the earth, because these bases are the bonds to tie not only the structures themselves but also scientific geology to civil works, or in other words for the civil engineering to stand conformably on the rule of Nature.