“As to the methods there may be a million and then some, but principles are few. The man who grasps principles can successfully select his own methods. The man who tries methods, ignoring principles, is sure to have trouble.”

– Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)

A lot of our development and experimentation is two-sided. We develop in the first world, with first-world materials and technologies. But we also do a lot of work in developing regions where certain things, like pressurized water, electricity, and uniformly sized pipe are hard to come by, and so we must constantly be considering how our information fits into both worlds.

For that reason, when we teach, we strive to show students that design, and materials can all be changed around, so long as you grasp a few key concepts.