This major work is about more than the origins and use of statics, it is also about the very ideas of "statics" and "strength of materials" and how they came to be part of the engineer's life. Fully referenced, with short biographies of over 175 important engineers.
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Was wissen Bauingenieure heute über die Herkunft der Baustatik? Wann und welcherart setzte das statische Rechnen im Entwurfsprozess ein? Der Autor geht der Herausbildung einzelner baustatischer Verfahren und ihrer Formierung zur Disziplin der Baustatik nach.
Das vorliegende Buch zeichnet die Entstehung von Statik und Festigkeitslehre als die Entwicklung vom geometrischen Denken der Renaissance zur durch die klassische Mechanik begründeten technikwissenschaftlichen Grundlagendisziplin nach. Eine Einführung eröffnet mit kurzen Einblicken in zehn verbreitete Berechnungsverfahren den Zugang zum Thema aus der Berechnungspraxis der Gegenwart. Beginnend mit den Festigkeitsbetrachtungen von Leonardo und Galilei wird der Herausbildung einzelner baustatischer Verfahren und ihrer Formierung zur Baustatik nachgegangen. Dabei gelingt es dem Autor, die Unterschiedlichkeit der Akteure hinsichtlich ihres technisch-wissenschaftlichen Profils und ihrer Persönlichkeit plastisch zu schildern und "nebenher" das Verständnis für den gesellschaftlichen Kontext zu erzeugen. Zahlreiche Kurzporträts bedeutender Bauingenieure sowie ein umfangreiches Literaturverzeichnis runden das Werk ab. Mit diesem Buch liegt der internationalen Fachwelt erstmals ein geschlossenes Werk über die Geschichte der Baustatik vor.
--------------------
Was wissen Bauingenieure heute über die Herkunft der Baustatik? Wann und welcherart setzte das statische Rechnen im Entwurfsprozess ein? Der Autor geht der Herausbildung einzelner baustatischer Verfahren und ihrer Formierung zur Disziplin der Baustatik nach.
Das vorliegende Buch zeichnet die Entstehung von Statik und Festigkeitslehre als die Entwicklung vom geometrischen Denken der Renaissance zur durch die klassische Mechanik begründeten technikwissenschaftlichen Grundlagendisziplin nach. Eine Einführung eröffnet mit kurzen Einblicken in zehn verbreitete Berechnungsverfahren den Zugang zum Thema aus der Berechnungspraxis der Gegenwart. Beginnend mit den Festigkeitsbetrachtungen von Leonardo und Galilei wird der Herausbildung einzelner baustatischer Verfahren und ihrer Formierung zur Baustatik nachgegangen. Dabei gelingt es dem Autor, die Unterschiedlichkeit der Akteure hinsichtlich ihres technisch-wissenschaftlichen Profils und ihrer Persönlichkeit plastisch zu schildern und "nebenher" das Verständnis für den gesellschaftlichen Kontext zu erzeugen. Zahlreiche Kurzporträts bedeutender Bauingenieure sowie ein umfangreiches Literaturverzeichnis runden das Werk ab. Mit diesem Buch liegt der internationalen Fachwelt erstmals ein geschlossenes Werk über die Geschichte der Baustatik vor.
About the German Edition:
"Dr.-Ing. Kurrer is an established scholar who is also editor-in-chief of the influential structural engineering journal 'Stahlbau'. This major book covers the history of structural analysis from 1575 to the present, although, as Dr Kurrer shows, structural analysis proper only starts in about 1825 (...).The history of stress analysis, embracing elasticity and strength of materials, is reasonably well developed; by contrast, the history of the science of structures has undiscovered material of very great interest. It is this rich field that Dr Kurrer explores (...). Each chapter is prefaced by a dozen lines of almost personal reflection on the author's involvement with the subject under discussion. Equally attractive are the forty pages of short biographies of over one hundred engineers who made major contributions to advances in structural theory and practice; most of these are illustrated by portraits. The illustrations throughout are fine, and there is an extensive bibliography."
Prof. Jacques Heyman, University of Cambridge/UK (The Structural Engineer, Vol. 81, 2003)
"'The history of statics is statics itself', claims Karl-Eugen Kurrer, paraphrasing Goethe. In 'Geschichte der Baustatik', based on a long series of specialized articles and more than two decades of study, Kurrer spreads a host of personalities and their interests before us, weaving them together into a thematic whole. Thought is, of course, inextricably bound to personality and education, and Kurrer demonstrates how engineering thought, far from being abstractly objective, is imbued with the character of the thinkers, their teachers, and their pupils. Personal experience conditions the definition of theoretical problems and their solutions, and this renders theoreticians human and their thoughts part of an ongoing professional discourse."
Prof. Dr. Tom F. Peters, Lehigh University, Betlehem/USA (Technology and Culture, Vol. 45, 2004)
"The book is about much more than the origins of statics and its use in building and bridge engineering since the late sixteenth century. It is also about the very ideas of 'statics' and 'strength of materials' and how they came to be an integral part of the engineer's life; how they were developed into an academic discipline and a rigorous technique in engineering education; How they became the subject of growing numbers of technical books and periodicals, both for the academicians and the practitioners; and last, but not least, how the epistemology of the subject developed. Nowhere is the point of this book better demonstrated than in its title and, for non-German readers, how it should be rendered into English, or French or Spanish. 'Baustatik' is not statics, or building statics; it is not structural engineering or strength of materials or structural science or analysis or design or calculation. It is a part of all these, and more. It is what united and binds a whole community of professionals together (...). Kurrer's excellent work makes for an interesting comparison with Antoine Picon's book 'L'invention de l'Ingénieur Moderne' which charts the history and contribution of the 'École des ponts et chausées' between 1747 and 1851."
Bill Addis PhD, Buro Happold Consulting Engineers, London (Construction History, Vol. 18, 2002)
"Kurrer is the Chief Editor of the German journal 'Stahlbau' (Steel Construction). His book is an important contribution to a subject on which little has been published so far."
Prof. Dr. H. J. Cowan, University of Sydney (Architectural Science Review, Vol. 46, 2003)
"Dr.-Ing. Kurrer is an established scholar who is also editor-in-chief of the influential structural engineering journal 'Stahlbau'. This major book covers the history of structural analysis from 1575 to the present, although, as Dr Kurrer shows, structural analysis proper only starts in about 1825 (...).The history of stress analysis, embracing elasticity and strength of materials, is reasonably well developed; by contrast, the history of the science of structures has undiscovered material of very great interest. It is this rich field that Dr Kurrer explores (...). Each chapter is prefaced by a dozen lines of almost personal reflection on the author's involvement with the subject under discussion. Equally attractive are the forty pages of short biographies of over one hundred engineers who made major contributions to advances in structural theory and practice; most of these are illustrated by portraits. The illustrations throughout are fine, and there is an extensive bibliography."
Prof. Jacques Heyman, University of Cambridge/UK (The Structural Engineer, Vol. 81, 2003)
"'The history of statics is statics itself', claims Karl-Eugen Kurrer, paraphrasing Goethe. In 'Geschichte der Baustatik', based on a long series of specialized articles and more than two decades of study, Kurrer spreads a host of personalities and their interests before us, weaving them together into a thematic whole. Thought is, of course, inextricably bound to personality and education, and Kurrer demonstrates how engineering thought, far from being abstractly objective, is imbued with the character of the thinkers, their teachers, and their pupils. Personal experience conditions the definition of theoretical problems and their solutions, and this renders theoreticians human and their thoughts part of an ongoing professional discourse."
Prof. Dr. Tom F. Peters, Lehigh University, Betlehem/USA (Technology and Culture, Vol. 45, 2004)
"The book is about much more than the origins of statics and its use in building and bridge engineering since the late sixteenth century. It is also about the very ideas of 'statics' and 'strength of materials' and how they came to be an integral part of the engineer's life; how they were developed into an academic discipline and a rigorous technique in engineering education; How they became the subject of growing numbers of technical books and periodicals, both for the academicians and the practitioners; and last, but not least, how the epistemology of the subject developed. Nowhere is the point of this book better demonstrated than in its title and, for non-German readers, how it should be rendered into English, or French or Spanish. 'Baustatik' is not statics, or building statics; it is not structural engineering or strength of materials or structural science or analysis or design or calculation. It is a part of all these, and more. It is what united and binds a whole community of professionals together (...). Kurrer's excellent work makes for an interesting comparison with Antoine Picon's book 'L'invention de l'Ingénieur Moderne' which charts the history and contribution of the 'École des ponts et chausées' between 1747 and 1851."
Bill Addis PhD, Buro Happold Consulting Engineers, London (Construction History, Vol. 18, 2002)
"Kurrer is the Chief Editor of the German journal 'Stahlbau' (Steel Construction). His book is an important contribution to a subject on which little has been published so far."
Prof. Dr. H. J. Cowan, University of Sydney (Architectural Science Review, Vol. 46, 2003)
"The history of statics is statics itself", claims Karl-Eugen Kurrer, paraphrasing Goethe. In "Geschichte der Baustatik", based on a long series of specialized articles and more than two decades of study, Kurrer spreads a host of personalities and their interests before us, weaving them together into a thematic whole. Thought is, of course, inextricably bound to personality and education, and Kurrer demonstrates how engineering thought, far from being abstractly objective, is imbued with the character of the thinkers, their teachers, and their pupils. Personal experience conditions the definition of theoretical problems and their solutions, and this renders theoreticians human and their thoughts part of an ongoing professional discourse.
Prof. Dr. Tom F. Peters, Lehigh University, Betlehem/USA (Technology and Culture, Vol. 45, 2004)
The book is about much more than the origins of statics and its use in building and bridge engineering since the late sixteenth century. It is also about the very ideas of "statics" and "strength of materials" and how they came to be an integral part of the engineer's life; how they were developed into an academic discipline and a rigorous technique in engineering education; How they became the subject of growing numbers of technical books and periodicals, both for the academicians and the practitioners; and last, but not least, how the epistemology of the subject developed. Nowhere is the point of this book better demonstrated than in its title and, for non-German readers, how it should be rendered into English, or French or Spanish. "Baustatik" is not statics, or building statics; it is not structural engineering or strength of materials or structural science or analysis or design or calculation. It is a part of all these, and more. It is what united and binds a whole community of professionals together (...). Kurrer's excellent work makes for an interesting comparison with Antoine Picon's book "L'invention de l'Ingénieur Moderne" which charts the history and contribution of the "École des ponts et chausées" between 1747 and 1851.
Bill Addis PhD, Buro Happold Consulting Engineers, London (Construction History, Vol. 18, 2002)
Kurrer is the Chief Editor of the German journal "Stahlbau" (Steel Construction). His book is an important contribution to a subject on which little has been published so far.
Prof. Dr. H. J. Cowan, University of Sydney (Architectural Science Review, Vol. 46, 2003)
This "history of theory of structures" could only have been written by an expert, an engineer who knows the discipline inside out. This fully revised English edition, which explores international developments in greater depths, follows on from the highly successful German edition We should be very grateful to Dr. Kurrer, and also "his" publisher, Ernst & Sohn, for this treatise.
PROF. EKKEHARD RAMM, UNIV. OF STUTTGART
Erstmalig wird eine zusammenfassende Darstellung der Entwicklung von der klassischen Baustatik zur Strukturmechanik und "Computational Mechanics" im letzten Jahrhundert geboten.
Summary: This book offers fascinating insights into the emerge of theory of structures and structural analysis itself on various levels. ... So on the whole a cohorent picture of the development of theory of structures emerges. Recommendation: definitely worth reading!
HOLGER EGGEMANN, BRÜHL
Das vorliegende Werk ist weit mehr als ein Fachbuch zur Gesschichte einer technikwissenschaftlichen Disziplin. Es ist spannendste Ingenieurlektüre in einer heute selten gewordenen, gepflegten Sprache.
WILFRIED B. KRÄTZIG, BAUTECHNIK, HEFT 9/2008
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Das Buch ist ein wunderbares Werk, welches die Bedeutung der Geschichte im strukturellen Ingenieurbau unterstreicht. Es bildet ein Werk, das zum kurzen Nachlesen von statischen Verfahren und auch gleichzeitig zur Aneignung von Hintergrundwissen bezüglich der zugehörigen geschichtlichen Entwicklungen geeignet ist.
ALFRED STRAUSS, BETON- UND STAHLBETONBAU, HEFT 1/2009
--------------------------------
Wer wollte von sich behaupten, ein wissenschaftliches Fach wirklich durchdrungen zu haben, ohne über dessen Geschichte ausreichend Bescheid zu wissen? ...Dazu gibt das vorliegende Werk, bei dem es sich um eine Revision, Erweiterung und Aktualisierung des im Jahre 2002 in deutscher Sprache erschienenen Buches "Geschichte der Baustatik" vo. K.-E. Kurrer handelt, wertvolle Hilfestellung. ...Zu den vielen Vorzügen des Buches zählen seine hervorragende Strukturierung, die ausgezeichneten Illustrationen, die reichhaltige Bibliographie und ganz besonders der relativ umfangreiche Abschnitt "Brief Biographies" mit einem angemessenen Anteil an Biographien österreichischer Fachgelehrter. Dem Autor ist dafür zu danken, dass er mit dem vorliegenden Buch die internationale Fachwelt und darüber hinaus die weltweite Gemeinschaft der Bauingenieure und -ingenieurinnen an seinem umfassenden Wissen teilhaben lässt. Damit sei die Hoffnung verbunden, K.-E. Kurrers Opus Magnum möge zur weiteren Stärkung des Selbstbewusstseins der Kollegenschaft in einem Fachgebiet mit stolzer Geschichte und hervorragenden Zukunftsperspektiven beitragen.
Herbert Mang (aus ÖIAZ 4-9/2008)
Prof. Dr. Tom F. Peters, Lehigh University, Betlehem/USA (Technology and Culture, Vol. 45, 2004)
The book is about much more than the origins of statics and its use in building and bridge engineering since the late sixteenth century. It is also about the very ideas of "statics" and "strength of materials" and how they came to be an integral part of the engineer's life; how they were developed into an academic discipline and a rigorous technique in engineering education; How they became the subject of growing numbers of technical books and periodicals, both for the academicians and the practitioners; and last, but not least, how the epistemology of the subject developed. Nowhere is the point of this book better demonstrated than in its title and, for non-German readers, how it should be rendered into English, or French or Spanish. "Baustatik" is not statics, or building statics; it is not structural engineering or strength of materials or structural science or analysis or design or calculation. It is a part of all these, and more. It is what united and binds a whole community of professionals together (...). Kurrer's excellent work makes for an interesting comparison with Antoine Picon's book "L'invention de l'Ingénieur Moderne" which charts the history and contribution of the "École des ponts et chausées" between 1747 and 1851.
Bill Addis PhD, Buro Happold Consulting Engineers, London (Construction History, Vol. 18, 2002)
Kurrer is the Chief Editor of the German journal "Stahlbau" (Steel Construction). His book is an important contribution to a subject on which little has been published so far.
Prof. Dr. H. J. Cowan, University of Sydney (Architectural Science Review, Vol. 46, 2003)
This "history of theory of structures" could only have been written by an expert, an engineer who knows the discipline inside out. This fully revised English edition, which explores international developments in greater depths, follows on from the highly successful German edition We should be very grateful to Dr. Kurrer, and also "his" publisher, Ernst & Sohn, for this treatise.
PROF. EKKEHARD RAMM, UNIV. OF STUTTGART
Erstmalig wird eine zusammenfassende Darstellung der Entwicklung von der klassischen Baustatik zur Strukturmechanik und "Computational Mechanics" im letzten Jahrhundert geboten.
Summary: This book offers fascinating insights into the emerge of theory of structures and structural analysis itself on various levels. ... So on the whole a cohorent picture of the development of theory of structures emerges. Recommendation: definitely worth reading!
HOLGER EGGEMANN, BRÜHL
Das vorliegende Werk ist weit mehr als ein Fachbuch zur Gesschichte einer technikwissenschaftlichen Disziplin. Es ist spannendste Ingenieurlektüre in einer heute selten gewordenen, gepflegten Sprache.
WILFRIED B. KRÄTZIG, BAUTECHNIK, HEFT 9/2008
-----------------------------
Das Buch ist ein wunderbares Werk, welches die Bedeutung der Geschichte im strukturellen Ingenieurbau unterstreicht. Es bildet ein Werk, das zum kurzen Nachlesen von statischen Verfahren und auch gleichzeitig zur Aneignung von Hintergrundwissen bezüglich der zugehörigen geschichtlichen Entwicklungen geeignet ist.
ALFRED STRAUSS, BETON- UND STAHLBETONBAU, HEFT 1/2009
--------------------------------
Wer wollte von sich behaupten, ein wissenschaftliches Fach wirklich durchdrungen zu haben, ohne über dessen Geschichte ausreichend Bescheid zu wissen? ...Dazu gibt das vorliegende Werk, bei dem es sich um eine Revision, Erweiterung und Aktualisierung des im Jahre 2002 in deutscher Sprache erschienenen Buches "Geschichte der Baustatik" vo. K.-E. Kurrer handelt, wertvolle Hilfestellung. ...Zu den vielen Vorzügen des Buches zählen seine hervorragende Strukturierung, die ausgezeichneten Illustrationen, die reichhaltige Bibliographie und ganz besonders der relativ umfangreiche Abschnitt "Brief Biographies" mit einem angemessenen Anteil an Biographien österreichischer Fachgelehrter. Dem Autor ist dafür zu danken, dass er mit dem vorliegenden Buch die internationale Fachwelt und darüber hinaus die weltweite Gemeinschaft der Bauingenieure und -ingenieurinnen an seinem umfassenden Wissen teilhaben lässt. Damit sei die Hoffnung verbunden, K.-E. Kurrers Opus Magnum möge zur weiteren Stärkung des Selbstbewusstseins der Kollegenschaft in einem Fachgebiet mit stolzer Geschichte und hervorragenden Zukunftsperspektiven beitragen.
Herbert Mang (aus ÖIAZ 4-9/2008)