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The Structural Engineer, Volume 75, Issue 12, 1997
James Sutherland will recall a member of our staff who went on holiday in Scotland to the Isle of Skye and, seeking no doubt the sublime, he climbed to the top of the Coulins. Disappointment! When looking north, all he could see was Harris and, looking northeast, all he could see was Sutherland. These names keep cropping up, not least this evening, but this evening it is Sutherland & Harris. Emeritus Professor Sir Alan Harris
The development of structural engineering can be traced back about 10 000 years when man became a farmer and needed shelter for himself and his harvests. Building remained a craft-based activity, and rules-of-thumb guided construction for many centuries. Progress was by no means continuous. Quite often, owing to lack of continuity, the skills were lost for generations and they were learnt again over a long period of time. For many centuries structural engineering developed through ‘intuitive understanding’ of how structures worked. A good example is the construction of Salisbury Cathedral (Fig l), which began in 1220 and was completed over the next few decades. The sizes of stones and the proportioning of the various components of the building were entirely based on ‘intuitive understanding’ and experience handed down through generations. N.K. Subedi
The Structural Engineer Karen Lloyd has responded to our President’s invitation to put forward suggestions on the contents of The Structural Engineer and writes: At a recent Institution meeting our President, Mr Clancy, asked whether anyone had any thoughts on the contents of the journal. Now that I have had time to gather my thoughts, I would like to offer the following suggestions.