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The Structural Engineer, Volume 36, Issue 13, 1958
THE THEORETICAL analysis of the behaviour of engineering structures, as we know the subject today, can be said to date effectively from the end of the 18th century. Monumental structures had of course been built long before that and their impressive remains can still be seen in Egypt and Mesopotamia and especially in countries which were formerly part of the Roman Empire. But, so far as is known, the engineer- architects who built these great works had no theoretical principles to guide them and relied only upon trial and experiment and their own genius. Much the same can be said of the builders of the great cathedrals of Europe who carried the art of constructing masonry arches, vaults and buttresses to a level that has never been surpassed. It was not until the Renaissance that men began to enquire in a systematic way into the laws that govern structural behaviour but even then progress was slow for many years. The pace quickened in the 18th century especially in France where the "ingenieurs des ponts et chausstes" were attempting to apply the methods of mathematics systematically to the design and construction of the structures for which they were responsible. The foundation of the "Ecole des Ponts et Chaussdes" in 1747 marks the beginning of the practice of training engineers to use this scientific approach to their work, and the interchange of men and ideas between this school and the military corps of engineers was extraordinarily productive. The most important figure of this period is Coulomb whose work on the bending of beams, on torsion, on friction and on the stability of retaining walls was an immense step forward. In his efforts to deal with the problems of structural statics by scientific methods, but without losing sight of practical requirements, Coulomb was the first to deal with structural analysis in a recognisably modern manner. Professor J.A.L. Matheson
Photographs of Mr. L. E. Kent, Mr. J. Singleton-Green, Lt.-Col. G. W. Kirkland, Mr. E. N. Underwood and Mr. T. Bredin
JUST AS Louis XIV of France is reputed to have said to the Paris Parliament in 1655, “L’etat c’est moi,” so Major Reginald Ferdinand Maitland might well say on this Jubilee Year that in him is represented the Institution of Structural Engineers. During the twenty-eight years of his devoted service as Secretary of the Institution he has provided the continuity of purpose, the wealth of experience and the driving force which has made the Institution the outstanding and world famed technical body that it is today. His influence to this end on the long list of eminent engineers who have yearly filled the Presidential Chair has had to be felt personally to be appreciated. Added to this, are the dignity, charm and friendly manner which have induced the greatest respect and loyalty from his staff, and have made successive Presidents and Councils look on him as a personal friend. J. Guthrie Brown