3. The First Steps

Prehistoric man was the first “designer”: to kill an animal, he needed a branch of a tree. In this operation, the abovementioned prehistoric man searched for a branch with a form useful for the necessary function (in the modern “methodic design” such an operation is called “design for function”, i.e. to realize a given object with a configuration suitable to perform the wanted function), with a useful diameter (not too little for strength requirements and not too big for need for gripping). In the choice of the dimension, our ancestor realized an optimization process, without the knowledge, of course, of the definition of “optimization”! The branch, also, had to be easy to find: our ancestor solved a problem of “design for manufacturing” (such an operation, in the modern “methodic design” is intended as the realization of an object with a configuration suitable to be realized easily and economically). A big problem in the development of an industrial product is to realize such a product with a configuration able to perform a wanted function and at the same time easy to be manufactured. Our ancestor had to solve this problem!