Category: Plumbing

Plumbing is a great example because it involves a lot of math, and math is the kind of thing that doesn’t seem connected to anything you might do in real life. And yet if you want to create a lot of wealth, the most valuable thing you can learn to do is design plumbing.

But what is plumbing? One way to get a handle on it is to ask: In a world without plumbing, how would people get clean water? How many gallons per minute does a typical shower use? What temperature should hot water be? How much does it cost to heat cold water to the temperature most people like their showers at?

If you were going to build a house from scratch with your bare hands, how would you arrange things so that you could take a shower or flush the toilet? If you weren’t allowed any technology except wheels and some basic hand tools, how would you get water where you needed it?

And while we’re at it, what about air conditioning in Phoenix or desalination in Santa Barbara? What’s the least expensive way to get fresh water from saltwater? These questions have answers. It’s just that no one knows exactly what they are. The answers are different all over the world because different places have different amounts of sunshine

Plumbing is important. It is not just a metaphorical way of referring to the behind-the-scenes work that makes a complex system work, although it includes that. People who design and build physical infrastructure have a hard job, and they usually do it well. You can’t just hire a plumber to fix something in your house or your neighborhood. Most of them don’t know how to do it. But when you hire a plumber to fix a clogged drain, the guy knows how to clear the blockage, and he is equipped with the tools he needs for the job.