History of Bridge Engineering
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Overview
Proficiency in any art or science is not attained until its history is known. Many a student and a designer finds, after weary hours of thought, that the problems over which he studied were considered and mastered by others, years or centuries before, perhaps with better results than his own. History is very fully taught in Schools of Architecture, but up to the present, very little time or thought has been given in the Engineering Schools to the History of Engineering, which is certainly quite as worthy of attention. The absence of such courses is generally ascribed to insufficient time and the dearth of literature. A need for this book is therefore evident, especially as there is at present no other on the subject in the English language. A noted writer has said that "the most remarkable trend of modern thought notwithstanding the effervescent boastfulness of the present century, is an appreciation of the work done by those who have gone before. During this busy age of specialists in every profession, the active thinking men that can spare the time from bread winning, are engaged more or less in looking backward. Retrospection is as surely the watchword of the modern philosopher as was introspection of his mediaeval brother. In the world of applied science no less than in the domain of ideas, we must reverse our mental telescopes if we would measure at its full the glory of human achievement. To aid in our investigations, the excavator, the archaeologist, the ethnologist and the philosopher are constantly at work. In our longings to complete the history of the development of any art we must look to them to supply the missing link in the chain of human activities that connect us with the past." An effort has been made to condense the subject, which might easily fill a thousand pages, into a small volume comparing in size with other textbooks, and for this reason, general references were prohibitive. As many quotations have been made from the writer's work, often without credit, footnotes refer to a few of the original articles. A hundred or more views of ancient and mediaeval bridges were crowded out because of insufficient space, and only a few illustrations are included from a collection of about two thousand, preference being given to recent types which are the most useful for present needs. While the book is essentially historical, it should be useful also for reference, especially in the selection of economic types, and the preparation of comparative designs and estimates. To assist in finding names and subjects, the more important ones are printed in black type.
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Details
- ISBN-13: 9781408603918
- ISBN-10: 1408603918
- Publisher: Stubbe Press
- Publish Date: October 2007
- Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 1.08 inches
- Shipping Weight: 1.34 pounds
- Page Count: 484
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