Status
Available
Call number
Series
Collections
Publication
Great Courses (2011), 12 hours, 24 lectures, 210 pages
Description
"Understanding the World's Greatest Structures: Science and Innovation from Antiquity to Modernity -- a marvelous learning experience that takes you around the world and reveals the stories behind the most famous bridges, churches, skyscrapers, towers, and other structures from thousands of years of history. These 24 lectures take you on a fascinating and richly illustrated tour that deftly blends history and science to create an unforgettable survey of our world's most remarkable structural masterpieces, one informed by the fundamentals of structural engineering and their underlying scientific principles."--Publisher.
User reviews
LibraryThing member datrappert
It is always a pleasure when someone is telling you about something they love, and Ressler loves all the things man has built from the pyramids onward. This course could have been twice as long, and I would have still enjoyed it. Certainly my favorite part (and my daughter's, whose home schooling
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this was part of) concerned the various types of bridges. Ressler's models (where can I get a kit like that?) are wonderful in explaining the various forces that engineers must take into account. He also talks a lot about the shift from empirical engineering, such as done by the Greeks, Romans, and builders right up to the 18th Century, and the subsequent switch to engineering built on mathematics and, later, computer simulations. We see, in the collapse of the Hartford Civic Center roof, that the use of math doesn't make for a safer building if the builder doesn't perform the right calculations. Ressler touches upon other disasters as well, such as the Tacoma Narrows (Galloping Gertie) bridge, or the miscalculations that required a major refit to the Citibank Tower in New York City. He also describes how the collapse of the World Trade Centers has changed how tall buildings are now built. I could go on and on, but just watch the series. It isn't necessary to pay a lot of money to buy it from the Teaching Company. I watched it on Kanopy, which is one of the services my public library provides for FREE. Show Less
Language
Original language
English
Physical description
210 p.; 7.4 inches