The Use of Semi-Graphical Methods in the Stress and Deformation Analysis of Shell Forms

THE PRESIDENT invited the meeting to accord a vote of thanks to Mr. Cousins for having prepared the paper and for having presented it so admirably. It was a very great pleasure to propose the meeting’s thanks to him because, although he had said that he thought the particular building described had not much to recommend it from the structural point of view, Mr. Cousins was being unduly modest in that respect.

The place of mathematics in the profession of engineering science, and engineering design, comes under review from time to time. The most notable contribution of recent years, to this important topic was made by Sir Charles Inglis in a lecture1 to the Institution of Civil Engineers in December, 1947. His title was a broad one - "Mathematics in relation to engineering" - but that title was abundantly justified by the breadth of his exposition and the illumination of his insight. In this more detailed discussion, of the mathematical needs of a special class of engineers, the field is still very wide and some of the conclusions-if the discussion leads to any conclusions- may be of general interest and application. E. H. Bateman