When confronted with a nonlinear systems engineering problem, the first approach usually is to linearize; in other words, to try to avoid the nonlinear aspects of the problem. It is indeed a happy circumstance when a solution can be obtained in this way. When it cannot, the tendency is to try to avoid the situation altogether, presumably in the hope that the problem will go away. Those engineers who forge ahead are often viewed as foolish, or worse. Nonlinear systems engineering is regarded not just as a difficult and confusing endeavor; it is widely viewed as dangerous to those who think about it for too long.