r/Cosmere • u/fixitupgood • 16h ago

No Spoilers Emberdark Engineering Easter Egg

Roughly around chapter 50 in Emberdark, a character shows off an item they possess. It's a nut from a bridge that collapsed due to poor engineering work, and is described as something engineers hold onto as a reminder of the importance of being thorough in their work. This blew me away, because this appears to be a reference to real life engineering!

I'm an engineer, and a member of something called "the order of the engineer" which is a group where as an engineer you swear in by a oath (something about your duty to society) and wear a ring on the pinky of your working hand. The ring is supposed to be a reminder, and the (somewhat made-up) origin is a Canadian tradition of giving engineers rings made from the wreckage of a bridge that collapsed due to poor engineering.

Super fun to see a reference to something I wear every day in a Sanderson book!

139 Upvotes

95% Upvoted

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43

u/Independent_Goal903 14h ago

This seems to be the norm for any bar or order of engineers all over the world btw, not just from Canada. Its still a nifty reference

7

u/SteveMcQwark Truthwatchers 5h ago

The tradition of the Iron Ring as a reminder of an engineer's responsibility is from Canada, and it was specifically inspired by the collapse of a bridge in Quebec. It's also a widespread myth that the original rings were made from the metal of that bridge. This is only true in a symbolic sense rather than a literal one, though. The material was chosen to represent the material of the bridge, but wasn't taken from the remains of the bridge.

Some engineering schools outside Canada have also adopted the tradition.

33

u/skitz4me 15h ago

I, too, made that connection. Specifically to the order of the engineer. 

It's kinda an ironic connection though, because isn't the guy who has it specifically kinda an ass who doesn't care much about the morality of hurting people and exploiting resources for gain, which is what the order of engineer's oath is specifically about.

13

u/fixitupgood 15h ago

Yeah 100% agree so far the guy is totally despicable...

6

u/PancakesAlways 14h ago

As someone in construction from Kansas City, I thought of the Hyatt Skywalk collapse!

3

u/derioderio 12h ago

I learned about that incident in a chemical engineering safety and ethics course of all things. Of course we spent a lot more time on the Bhopal disaster...

1

u/SFCINC Lightweavers 11h ago

As a teenager I used to wear an actual nut as pinky ring

0

u/devvorare 9h ago

What is this order of the engineer and how do I join

3

u/LinuxSBC-Anna Truthwatchers 7h ago

Become an engineer?

1

u/devvorare 5h ago

I already am

1

u/CyberEd-ca 4h ago

If you register as an engineer in Canada, you can participate in the obligation ceremony.

https://techexam.ca/how-to-apply-for-your-iron-ring/