engineering

Norman Rowntree

Norman Rowntree is a engineering topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Norman Rowntree rather than just read about it. In short: Sir Norman Andrew Forster Rowntree (11 March 1912 – 22 July 1991) was a British civil engineer. Rowntree was born in London in 1912 and held a Bachelor of Science degree in engineering.

Key takeaways

Norman Rowntree belongs to engineering; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Norman Rowntree to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Norman Rowntree from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Sir Norman Andrew Forster Rowntree (11 March 1912 – 22 July 1991) was a British civil engineer. Rowntree was born in London in 1912 and held a Bachelor of Science degree in engineering. He worked as an engineering consultant for Alcott & Lomax, who would be acquired by Babtie in 2000. During his consulting career he was involved with the construction of water pumping stations. Rowntree was appointed director of the Water Resources Board (WRB), a national water planning body established in 1964. The WRB was dominated by civil engineers and focussed its efforts on implementing structural solutions to water resource problems. Rowntree was a keen proponent of that school of thought, saying in 1962 that "the solution of water supply problems … will require the construction and operation of large works and highly‐developed technical control". Under Rowntree's leadership the WRB was able to undertake what was the largest scheme of water planning yet seen in England and Wales. Rowntree was made a Knight Bachelor in Elizabeth II's 1970 Birthday Honours. Rowntree gave the Institution of Electrical Engineers 1972 Graham Clark Lecture on "Conservation and use of water resources" and the same year wrote an article for the Proceedings of the Royal Society B entitled "Water Resources Management in England and Wales". By 1974, he had become a Professor and, on 2 December that year, was awarded an honorary Doctor of Science degree by City University London. Rowntree was elected president of the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) for the November 1975–76 session. He used his inaugural presidential address to emphasise that "the duty remains with engineers and other experts to minimise the range of intangible issues… the inaccuracy of words and the opportunities of distortion are enormous. In the present age of unreason this is a real danger and may be responsible for many of our present ills". He was a chartered engineer and a fellow of the institution. In 1976 Rowntree was employed by the Department of Civil Engineering of the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology and, on 8 December, gave the 63rd Thomas Hawksley lecture to the Institution of Mechanical Engineers on the history of water engineering. In August 1986 he wrote an article in the Proceedings of the ICE comparing water resources planning in the United Kingdom with that of New Jersey in the USA.

References

Bibliography Coates, F.W.; Taylor, R.S. (November 1976). "Hartlepool Power Station: major civil engineering features" (PDF). Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers. Part 1. 60: 711–718. doi:10.1680/iicep.1976.3376. Retrieved 23 October 2010. McCulloch, Christine S. (2009). "The Water Resources Board: England and Wales' Venture into National Water Resources Planning, 1964–1973". Water Alternatives. 2 (3): 461‐475. Retrieved 23 October 2010. Rowntree, Norman (1972). "Water Resources Management – England and Wales" (PDF). Proceedings of the Royal Society B. 180 (1061): 367–369. doi:10.1098/rspb.1972.0023. S2CID 129045101. Retrieved 23 October 2010. Rowntree, Norman (1976). "Water engineering—one hundred years of evolution and the future". Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers. 190: 679–686. doi:10.1243/pime_proc_1976_190_072_02. Retrieved 17 October 2010. Rowntree, Norman (August 1986). "Water resources planning practice – United Kingdom and the State of New Jersey, USA: a comparison". Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers. 80 (4): 999. doi:10.1680/iicep.1986.636. Retrieved 23 October 2010. Watson, Garth (1988), The Civils, Thomas Telford Ltd, ISBN 0-7277-0392-7

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Norman Rowntree

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Norman Rowntree claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In engineering, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Norman Rowntree before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Norman Rowntree ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Norman Rowntree

In research: Norman Rowntree appears in engineering research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Norman Rowntree in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Norman Rowntree is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1912 births, 1991 deaths, 20th-century civil engineers, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Norman Rowntree outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Norman Rowntree in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Norman Rowntree means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Norman Rowntree out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Norman Rowntree in simple terms?

Sir Norman Andrew Forster Rowntree (11 March 1912 – 22 July 1991) was a British civil engineer. Rowntree was born in London in 1912 and held a Bachelor of Science degree in engineering.

Why does Norman Rowntree matter?

Because it connects several engineering ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Norman Rowntree?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Norman Rowntree.