Reduction Gearing Civil Engineers were the first within the engineering discipline, during the previous era of moving water, stone, dirt and brick. Within the Industrial Revolution, the Mechanical Engineer came into his own, just as the Electric and Electronics Engineers would emerge in another century, or two. The development of gears, and combinations of gearing, had to become an exact science during a period when the Power Engineer was also assuming importance as a professional. It was a race, with the later striving to provide more power, the users demanding more power for production and the Mechanical Engineer in the middle taming the power with heavier, safer and more sophisticated machines. The new metals, forging and castings were allies in the battle!