Edward Constant II

Who is Edward Constant II?

Edward Constant II is a former Professor of History at Carnegie Mellon University, and convicted of aggravated assault and attempted homicide.

He earned his doctorate from Northwestern University in 1977, and since 1976 had been a member of the Carnegie Mellon history department. He was noted for his publications on the evolution and impact of technology. In 1982 he was awarded the Dexter Prize of the Society for the History of Technology for his book titled, "The Origins of the Turbojet Revolution". Constant's main theory was that engineering occurs in 'communities of technological practice'.

In 2004 was convicted by an Allegheny County jury trial of attempted homicide and aggravated assault. On May 26, 2002, a police officer came to the Constants' home on a domestic disturbance call after reports of Constant loud argument with his wife inside their home at night. The officer was shot in the chest by a .44 caliber Smith & Wesson revolver, but survived the attack because he was wearing a bullet-proof vest. Constant was arrested after police shot him in the posterior, in a barrage of bullets.