Strength of materials is that branch of engineering concerned with the deformation and disruption of solids when forces other than changes in position or equilibrium are acting upon them. The development of our understanding of the strength of materials has enabled engineers to establish the forces which can safely be imposed on structure or components, or to choose materials appropriate to the necessary dimensions of structures and components which have to withstand given loads without suffering effects deleterious to their proper functioning. This excellent historical survey of the strength of materials with many references to the theories of elasticity and structures is based on an extensive series of lectures delivered by the author at Stanford University, Palo Alto, California. Timoshenko explores the early roots of the discipline from the great monuments and pyramids of ancient Egypt through the temples, roads, and fortifications of ancient Greece and Rome. The author fixes the formal beginning of the modern science of the strength of materials with the publications of Galileo's book, "Two Sciences," and traces the rise and development as well as industrial and commercial applications of the fledgling science from the seventeenth century through the twentieth century. Timoshenko fleshes out the bare bones of mathematical theory with lucid demonstrations of important equations and brief biographies of highly influential mathematicians, including: Euler, Lagrange, Navier, Thomas Young, Saint-Venant, Franz Neumann, Maxwell, Kelvin, Rayleigh, Klein, Prandtl, and many others. These theories, equations, and biographies are further enhanced by clear discussions of the development of engineering and engineering education in Italy, France, Germany, England, and elsewhere. 245 figures.

In addition to coverage of customary elementary subjects (tension, torsion, bending, etc.), this introductory text features advanced material on engineering methods and applications, plus 350 problems and answers. 1949 edition.

When, after the agreeable fatigues of solicitation, Mrs Millamant set out a long bill of conditions subject to which she might by degrees dwindle into a wife, Mirabell offered in return the condition that he might not thereby be beyond measure enlarged into a husband. With age and experience in research come the twin dangers of dwindling into a philosopher of science while being enlarged into a dotard. The philosophy of science, I believe, should not be the preserve of senile scientists and of teachers of philosophy who have themselves never so much as understood the contents of a textbook of theoretical physics, let alone done a bit of mathematical research or even enjoyed the confidence of a creating scientist. On the latter count I run no risk: Any reader will see that I am untrained (though not altogether unread) in classroom philosophy. Of no ignorance of mine do I boast, indeed I regret it, but neither do I find this one ignorance fatal here, for few indeed of the great philosophers to explicate whose works hodiernal professors of phil osophy destroy forests of pulp were themselves so broadly and specially trained as are their scholiasts. In attempt to palliate the former count I have chosen to collect works written over the past thirty years, some of them not published before, and I include only a few very recent essays.

Four decades ago, J.P. Den Hartog, then Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, wrote Strength of Materials, an elementary text that still enjoys great popularity in engineering schools throughout the world. Widely used as a classroom resource, it has also become a favorite reference and refresher on the subject among engineers everywhere. This is the first paperback edition of an equally successful text by this highly respected engineer and author. Advanced Strength of Materials takes this important subject into areas of greater difficulty, masterfully bridging its elementary aspects and its most formidable advanced reaches. The book reflects Den Hartog's impressive talent for making lively, discursive and often witty presentations of his subject, and his unique ability to combine the scholarly insight of a distinguished scientist with the practical, problem-solving orientation of an experienced industrial engineer. The concepts here explored in depth include torsion, rotating disks, membrane stresses in shells, bending of flat plates, beams on elastic foundation, the two-dimensional theory of elasticity, the energy method and buckling. The presentation is aimed at the student who has a one-semester course in elementary strength of materials. The book includes an especially thorough and valuable section of problems and answers which give both students and professionals practice in techniques and clear illustrations of applications.

"A remarkable work which will remain a document of the first rank for the historian of mechanics." — Louis de Broglie In this masterful synthesis and summation of the science of mechanics, Rene Dugas, a leading scholar and educator at the famed Ecole Polytechnique in Paris, deals with the evolution of the principles of general mechanics chronologically from their earliest roots in antiquity through the Middle Ages to the revolutionary developments in relativistic mechanics, wave and quantum mechanics of the early 20th century. The present volume is divided into five parts: The first treats of the pioneers in the study of mechanics, from its beginnings up to and including the sixteenth century; the second section discusses the formation of classical mechanics, including the tremendously creative and influential work of Galileo, Huygens and Newton. The third part is devoted to the eighteenth century, in which the organization of mechanics finds its climax in the achievements of Euler, d'Alembert and Lagrange. The fourth part is devoted to classical mechanics after Lagrange. In Part Five, the author undertakes the relativistic revolutions in quantum and wave mechanics. Writing with great clarity and sweep of vision, M. Dugas follows closely the ideas of the great innovators and the texts of their writings. The result is an exceptionally accurate and objective account, especially thorough in its accounts of mechanics in antiquity and the Middle Ages, and the important contributions of Jordanus of Nemore, Jean Buridan, Albert of Saxony, Nicole Oresme, Leonardo da Vinci, and many other key figures. Erudite, comprehensive, replete with penetrating insights, AHistory of Mechanics is an unusually skillful and wide-ranging study that belongs in the library of anyone interested in the history of science.

Presents in-depth coverage of fundamental and advanced concepts of strength of materials for mechanical and civil engineering students.

This book traces the evolution of theory of structures and strength of materials - the development of the geometrical thinking of the Renaissance to become the fundamental engineering science discipline rooted in classical mechanics. Starting with the strength experiments of Leonardo da Vinci and Galileo, the author examines the emergence of individual structural analysis methods and their formation into theory of structures in the 19th century. For the first time, a book of this kind outlines the development from classical theory of structures to the structural mechanics and computational mechanics of the 20th century. In doing so, the author has managed to bring alive the differences between the players with respect to their engineering and scientific profiles and personalities, and to create an understanding for the social context. Brief insights into common methods of analysis, backed up by historical details, help the reader gain an understanding of the history of structural mechanics from the standpoint of modern engineering practice. A total of 175 brief biographies of important personalities in civil and structural engineering as well as structural mechanics plus an extensive bibliography round off this work.