A project, as defined in the field of project management, consists of a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service or result.^[1] More generically, the Oxford English Dictionary suggests that business and science projects involve "a collaborative enterprise, frequently involving research or design, that is carefully planned to achieve a particular aim".

PRINCE2 defines a project as "a management environment that is created for the purpose of delivering one or more business products according to a specified business case"^[2].

1 Origin
2 Applicability
3 Notable projects
4 School Usage
5 See also
6 Footnotes

[edit] Origin

The word project comes from the Latin word projectum from the Latin verb proicere, "to throw something forwards" which in turn comes from pro-, which denotes something that precedes the action of the next part of the word in time (paralleling the Greek p??) and iacere, "to throw". The word "project" thus actually originally meant "something that comes before anything else happens". When the English language initially adopted the word, it referred to a plan of something, not to the act of actually carrying this plan out. Something performed in accordance with a project became known as an "object". This use of "project" changed in the 1950s^{[citation needed]} with the introduction of several techniques for project management. Use of the word "project" evolved slightly to cover both projects and objects. However, certain projects continue to include so-called objects object leaders

[edit] Applicability

Contemporary Western business — characterized by a modern matrix organization and a cooperative culture — currently particularly favors project-based approaches. Authoritarian, bureaucratic organizations with rigid, hierarchical structures show less enthusiasm about project-based work, which may not operate as expected in their environment due to conflicts between different cultures.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Notable projects

the Manhattan Project, which developed the first nuclear weapon
the Soviet atomic bomb project
the Polaris missile project: an ICBM control-system
Soviet manned lunar projects and programs
Project Apollo, which landed humans on the moon
genome projects
the Human Genome Project, which mapped the human genome

[edit] School Usage

Within public schools in the United States, a project is an assignment given to a student which generally requires a larger amount of effort than normal homework assignments. They can range anywhere from simple written projects to elaborate and well-constructed Science Fair Projects.