ENGINEER VS SCIENTIST - Comparing Engineers and Scientists – What's the Difference? - Some people say there is no difference between a scientist and an engineer, while other people think the two careers are totally separate from each other. Scientists and engineers typically have strong opinions about what they do, which makes sense, since it involves discovering, inventing, and improving pretty much everything, right? How would you describe the difference between a scientist and an engineer? Scientist versus engineer... are they the same? Different? Practical and Philosophical Differences - A scientist is a person who has scientific training or who works in the sciences. An engineer is someone who is trained as an engineer. So, the practical difference lies in the educational degree and the description of the task being performed by the scientist or engineer. On a more philosophical level, scientists tend to explore the natural world and discover new knowledge about the universe and how it works. Engineers apply that knowledge to solve practical problems, often with an eye toward optimizing cost, efficiency, or some other parameters. There is considerable overlap between science and engineering, so you will find scientists who design and construct equipment and engineers who make important scientific discoveries. Information theory was founded by Claude Shannon, a theoretical engineer. Peter Debye won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry with a degree in electrical engineering and a doctorate in physics.

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Engineer vs Scientist

What's the Difference?

Comparing Engineers and Scientists

By Anne Marie Helmenstine, Ph.D. 

Some people say there is no difference between a scientist and an engineer, while other people think the two careers are totally separate from each other.

Scientists and engineers typically have strong opinions about what they do, which makes sense, since it involves discovering, inventing, and improving pretty much everything, right?

How would you describe the difference between a scientist and an engineer?

Scientist versus engineer... are they the same? Different?

Here's a look at the definitions of scientist and engineer and the difference between a scientist and engineer.

Practical and Philosophical Differences

A scientist is a person who has scientific training or who works in the sciences.

An engineer is someone who is trained as an engineer.

So, the practical difference lies in the educational degree and the description of the task being performed by the scientist or engineer.

On a more philosophical level, scientists tend to explore the natural world and discover new knowledge about the universe and how it works.

Engineers apply that knowledge to solve practical problems, often with an eye toward optimizing cost, efficiency, or some other parameters.

Considerable Overlap 

There is considerable overlap between science and engineering, so you will find scientists who design and construct equipment and engineers who make important scientific discoveries.

Information theory was founded by Claude Shannon, a theoretical engineer.

Peter Debye won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry with a degree in electrical engineering and a doctorate in physics.

Anne Marie Helmenstine, Ph.D.

Ph.D. in biomedical sciences from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville - Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

Science educator with experience teaching chemistry, biology, astronomy, and physics at the high school, college, and graduate levels.

ThoughtCo and About Education chemistry expert since 2001.

Widely-published graphic artist, responsible for printable periodic tables and other illustrations used in science.

Experience

Anne Helmenstine, Ph.D. has covered chemistry for ThoughtCo and About Education since 2001, and other sciences since 2013. She taught chemistry, biology, astronomy, and physics at the high school, college, and graduate levels. She has worked as a research scientist and also abstracting and indexing diverse scientific literature for the Department of Energy.

In addition to her work as a science writer, Dr. Helmenstine currently serves as a scientific consultant, specializing in problems requiring an interdisciplinary approach. Previously, she worked as a research scientist and college professor. 

Education

Dr. Helmenstine holds a Ph.D. in biomedical sciences from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville and a B.A. in physics and mathematics with a minor in chemistry from Hastings College. In her doctoral work, Dr. Helmenstine developed ultra-sensitive chemical detection and medical diagnostic tests.

ThoughtCo and Dotdash

ThoughtCo is a premier reference site focusing on expert-created education content. We are one of the top-10 information sites in the world as rated by comScore, a leading Internet measurement company. Every month, more than 13 million readers seek answers to their questions on ThoughtCo.

For more than 20 years, Dotdash brands have been helping people find answers, solve problems, and get inspired. We are one of the top-20 largest content publishers on the Internet according to comScore, and reach more than 30% of the U.S. population monthly. Our brands collectively have won more than 20 industry awards in the last year alone, and recently Dotdash was named Publisher of the Year by Digiday, a leading industry publication.

https://www.thoughtco.com/engineer-vs-scientist-whats-the-difference-606442