Feb 8
Masonry should not be a requirement for Basic Engineering
Masonry before Basic Engineering means that the Masonry specialist must craft geology research paper advanced without craftable sand. If they're supposed to use charred mortar, then it doesn't make sense to have Masonry level 1 on the recipe for the research papers.
My suggestion is to change the Basic Engineering recipe to require Mining research papers (geology research paper basic).
An alternative option is to add a granite and sandstone crusher and a silica concentrator crafted in the workbench with Mining level 1 labor that doesn't require mechanical power, perhaps requiring active, idle interaction like a bed or a vehicle.
I've come to this observation because in our server we delayed the book craft time on purpose and as a consequence of that, we had masons doing charred mortar for a week.
Pending
It should be possible to specialize early in basic engineering to begin to work on roads and vehicles, and that does not really rely on Masonry. Basic Engineering, apart from road crafting, use mainly wood and iron, so it would make sense to have only basic research papers in its book recipe.