TECHNICAL PAPERS
Apr 1, 1996

On the Shoulders of Giants—Part Three

Publication: Journal of Professional Issues in Engineering Education and Practice
Volume 122, Issue 2

Abstract

The education of our future civil engineers is incomplete without an appreciation of the men and women who created the profession of civil engineering in the late 18th and early 19th century. This paper presents an approach to the introduction of the history and heritage of civil engineering into existing course work by the use of “history modules.” This module traces our understanding of beam behavior and the development of the flexure equation. It begins in the time of Aristotle and Archimedes and ends in the mid-19th century with the publishing of Navier's, Mahan's, and Whipple's work. The first two modules dealt with the development of the truss and the Manning formula. It is my hope that additional modules will be written and packaged by ASCE for distribution to engineering faculty around the country.

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References

1.
Benvenuto, E. (1992). An introduction to the history of structural mechanics. Springer-Verlag, New York, N.Y.
2.
Coulomb, C. A. (1776). On an application of maxima and minima to some problems in statics, relating to architecture. Academy of Science, VII.
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Galileo, Galilei, [1638 (1914)]. Trans., H. Crew and A. DeSavlio, Two New Sciences, Northwestern Univ., Evanston, Ill.
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Griggs, F. E. (1995). Call him Squire, the life and times of Squire Whipple—19th century civil engineer . (in manuscript).
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Hamilton, S. B. (1952). “Charles Auguste de Coulomb.”Proc., Inst. of Civ. Engrs., (Dec.), London, U.K.
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Haupt, H. (1851). General theory of bridge construction. D. Appleton and Co., New York, N.Y.
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Heyman, J. (1972). Coulomb's memoir on statics, an essay in the history of civil engineering. Cambridge at the University Press, Cambridge, U.K.
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Hooke, R. (1678). Potentia restitutiva; or of spring, explaining the power of springing bodies.
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Mariotte, E-A., [1684 (1718) 1978]. Trans., J. T. Desaguliers, Treatise of Hydrostaticks, Wherein the motion of water and other fluids is considered. Reprinted by Arno Press, New York, N.Y.
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Navier, C. (1826). Léçons sur l'application de la méchanique . Paris, France.
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Timoshenko, S. (1953). History of strength of materials, with a brief account of the history of theory of elasticity and theory of structures. McGraw Hill Book Co., New York, N.Y.
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Whipple, S. (1847, 1869). A work on bridge building consisting of two essays, the one elementary and general, the other giving original plans and practical details for iron and wooden bridges . Utica, N.Y.

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Go to Journal of Professional Issues in Engineering Education and Practice
Journal of Professional Issues in Engineering Education and Practice
Volume 122Issue 2April 1996
Pages: 55 - 64

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Published online: Apr 1, 1996
Published in print: Apr 1996

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Francis E. Griggs Jr., Fellow, ASCE
Dir. Quality Assurance, Clough Harbour Assoc., III Winners Circle, Albany, NY 12205.

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