The duke told Radio 4's Today programme that "everything that wasn't invented by God was invented by an engineer".
He was discussing the merits of British engineering with Today's guest editor, former BP chief executive Lord Browne.
Prince Philip said engineering had contributed to the post-war recovery and would help solve future problems.
The prince, who has an interest in scientific and technological research and development in industry, told the programme that after World War Two "we were completely skint, seriously badly damaged" when engineering had helped the post-war rebuilding process.
Looking to the future and the problems the world's growing population are likely to pose, he said: "But somehow or other that balance to try and fit as many people onto this globe as comfortably as possible without them doing too much damage - I think ultimately it's going to be engineers who are going to decide that."
Asked whether scientists viewed engineers as second-rate, the prince said there was, he assumed, a certain amount of jealousy and anxiety as to whether engineers might be better.
He added it was "curious" that there was no Nobel Prize for engineering.
It will be up to engineers to find solutions to the problems posed by the world's growing human population, the Duke of Edinburgh has told the BBC.