Quotation by K. Eric Drexler

In academic science, interdisciplinary work is productive and praised, but is relatively rare. Scientists don't need to cooperate to have their results fit together: they are all describing different parts of the same thing—nature—so in the long run, their results tend to come together into a single picture. Engineering, however, is different. Because it is more creative (it actually creates complex things), it demands more attention to teamwork. If the finished parts are going to work together, they must be developed by groups that share a common picture of what each part must accomplish. Engineers in different disciplines are forced to communicate; the challenge of management and team-building is to make that communication happen.