Great Scientists Of Old As Heretics In The Scientific Method

The Page-Barbour Lectures of 1985, University of Virginia.

This is a comprehensive, state-of-the-art, treatise on the energetic mechanics of Lagrange and Hamilton, that is, classical analytical dynamics, and its principal applications to constrained systems (contact, rolling, and servoconstraints). It is a book on advanced dynamics from a unified viewpoint, namely, the kinetic principle of virtual work, or principle of Lagrange. As such, it continues, renovates, and expands the grand tradition laid by such mechanics masters as Appell, Maggi, Whittaker, Heun, Hamel, Chetaev, Synge, Pars, Luré, Gantmacher, Neimark, and Fufaev. Many completely solved examples complement the theory, along with many problems (all of the latter with their answers and many of them with hints). Although written at an advanced level, the topics covered in this 1400-page volume (the most extensive ever written on analytical mechanics) are eminently readable and inclusive. It is of interest to engineers, physicists, and mathematicians; advanced undergraduate and graduate students and teachers; researchers and professionals; all will find this encyclopedic work an extraordinary asset; for classroom use or self-study. In this edition, corrections (of the original edition, 2002) have been incorporated. Contents:IntroductionBackground: Basic Concepts and Equations of Particle and Rigid-Body MechanicsKinematics of Constrained SystemsKinetics of Constrained SystemsImpulsive MotionNonlinear Nonholonomic ConstraintsDifferential Variational Principles, and Associated Generalized Equations of Motion of Nielsen, Tsenov, et al.Time-Integral Theorems and Variational PrinciplesIntroduction to Hamiltonian/Canonical Methods: Equations of Hamilton and Routh; Canonical Formalism Readership: Students and researchers in engineering, physics, and applied mathematics. Key Features:No book of this scope (comprehensiveness and state-of-the-art level) has ever been written, in any language, there are no real competitors. This (like the author's other books) is an entirely original work; several of its topics are based on the author's own research, and appear for the first time in book formReadability (“reader friendliness”) in spite of its advanced levelEconomy of thinking: Unified treatment based on Lagrange's kinetic principle of virtual workSuperior and clear notation: both indicial and direct notations for vectors, Cartesian tensors etc.Self-contained exposition: All background mathematics and mechanics are summarized in the handbook like chapter 1Keywords:Analytical Mechanics;Classical Mechanics;Classical Dynamics;Theoretical Mechanics;Advanced Engineering Dynamics;Applied MechanicsReviews: “A monumental treatise … which is going to become a reference book on the subject … It should not be missed by anybody working in the area of analytical dynamics or only wanting to understand major problems of the subject … This landmark reference source … [is] the most comprehensive exposition available of the advanced engineering-oriented dynamics.” Zentralblatt für Math. “This unique treatise should be part of every scientific library and scholarly collection in engineering science.” IEEE Control Systems Magazine “I recommend without hesitation Prof Papastravridis' treatise as a reference source to be acquired by every library of Mathematics, Physics, or Mechanical/Aeronautical/Electrical Engineering department. It is a different book, especially in our Internet era where instant satisfaction is often the primary (sometimes sole) goal of the student or researcher. Putting together 1392 (!!) pages of carefully prepared text and 172 figures (which then become somehow sparse) represents a major effort, to say the least.” Bulletin of the American Mathematical Society “Recipient of the annual competition award, in engineering, of the Association of American Publishers.” The Outstanding Professional and Scholarly Titles of 2002 (March 2003) “Unique in Contents and Perspective … has no Competition in Depth and Breadth.” Dr George Simitses Professor of Engineering Science, Mechanics, and Aerospace Engineering University of Cincinatti and Georgia Institute of Technology, USA “Probably the best of its kind and likely to become standard reference.” Dr Alex Dalgarno FRS, member of US National Academy of Sciences, and “father of molecular astrophysics” and Phillips Professor of Astronomy, Harvard University, and Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, USA “The reviewer shares the author's statement that this book with its almost 1,400 pages is unique among the comparable treatises in the breadth and the depth of the covered material. Regarding technicalities — the students and the young scientists will find a lot of interesting examples and solved up to their very end problems. I recommend you to read this special book in analytical mechanics. It is a useful tool to undergraduate and graduate students, professors and researchers in the area of applied mechanics, engineering science, and mechanical, aerospace, and structural engineering, as well for the physicists and applied mathematicians.” Journal of Geometry and Symmetry in Physics

Ten years after the publication of the first English edition of The History of the Theory of Structures, Dr. Kurrer now gives us a much enlarged second edition with a new subtitle: Searching for Equilibrium. The author invites the reader to take part in a journey through time to explore the equilibrium of structures. That journey starts with the emergence of the statics and strength of materials of Leonardo da Vinci and Galileo, and reaches its first climax with Coulomb's structural theories for beams, earth pressure and arches in the late 18th century. Over the next 100 years, Navier, Culmann, Maxwell, Rankine, Mohr, Castigliano and Müller-Breslau moulded theory of structures into a fundamental engineering science discipline that - in the form of modern structural mechanics - played a key role in creating the design languages of the steel, reinforced concrete, aircraft, automotive and shipbuilding industries in the 20th century. In his portrayal, the author places the emphasis on the formation and development of modern numerical engineering methods such as FEM and describes their integration into the discipline of computational mechanics. Brief insights into customary methods of calculation backed up by historical facts help the reader to understand the history of structural mechanics and earth pressure theory from the point of view of modern engineering practice. This approach also makes a vital contribution to the teaching of engineers. Dr. Kurrer manages to give us a real feel for the different approaches of the players involved through their engineering science profiles and personalities, thus creating awareness for the social context. The 260 brief biographies convey the subjective aspect of theory of structures and structural mechanics from the early years of the modern era to the present day. Civil and structural engineers and architects are well represented, but there are also biographies of mathematicians, physicists, mechanical engineers and aircraft and ship designers. The main works of these protagonists of theory of structures are reviewed and listed at the end of each biography. Besides the acknowledged figures in theory of structures such as Coulomb, Culmann, Maxwell, Mohr, Müller-Breslau, Navier, Rankine, Saint-Venant, Timoshenko and Westergaard, the reader is also introduced to G. Green, A. N. Krylov, G. Li, A. J. S. Pippard, W. Prager, H. A. Schade, A. W. Skempton, C. A. Truesdell, J. A. L. Waddell and H. Wagner. The pioneers of the modern movement in theory of structures, J. H. Argyris, R. W. Clough, T. v. Kármán, M. J. Turner and O. C. Zienkiewicz, are also given extensive biographical treatment. A huge bibliography of about 4,500 works rounds off the book. New content in the second edition deals with earth pressure theory, ultimate load method, an analysis of historical textbooks, steel bridges, lightweight construction, theory of plates and shells, Green's function, computational statics, FEM, computer-assisted graphical analysis and historical engineering science. The number of pages now exceeds 1,200 - an increase of 50% over the first English edition. This book is the first all-embracing historical account of theory of structures from the 16th century to the present day.

Through his voluminous and in?uential writings, editorial activities, organi- tional leadership, intellectual acumen, and strong sense of history, Clifford - brose Truesdell III (1919–2000) was the main architect for the renaissance of - tional continuum mechanics since the middle of the twentieth century. The present collection of 42 essays and research papers pays tribute to this man of mathematics, science, and natural philosophy as well as to his legacy. The ?rst ?ve essays by B. D. Coleman, E. Giusti, W. Noll, J. Serrin, and D. Speiser were texts of addresses given by their authors at the Meeting in memory of Clifford Truesdell, which was held in Pisa in November 2000. In these essays the reader will ?nd personal reminiscences of Clifford Truesdell the man and of some of his activities as scientist, author, editor, historian of exact sciences, and principal founding member of the Society for Natural Philosophy. The bulk of the collection comprises 37 research papers which bear witness to the Truesdellian legacy. These papers cover a wide range of topics; what ties them together is the rational spirit. Clifford Truesdell, in his address upon receipt of a Birkhoff Prize in 1978, put the essence of modern continuum mechanics succinctly as “conceptual analysis, analysis not in the sense of the technical term but in the root meaning: logical criticism, dissection, and creative scrutiny.

The history of mechanics, and more particularly, the history of mechanics applied to constructions, constitutes a field of research that is relatively recent. This volume, together with the recent publication "Towards a History of Construction", is intended as an homage to the two eminent scholars who made a determinant contribution to the history of mechanics: Edoardo Benvenuto and Clifford Truesdell.

Transcendental Curves in the Leibnizian Calculus analyzes the mathematical and philosophical conflict between Euclidean and Cartesian mathematics. For millennia, mathematical meaning and ontology had been anchored in geometrical constructions, as epitomized by Euclid's ruler and compass. As late as 1637, Descartes had placed himself squarely in this tradition when he justified his new technique of identifying curves with equations by means of certain curve-tracing instruments, thereby bringing together the ancient constructive tradition and modern algebraic methods in a satisfying marriage. But rapid advances in the new fields of infinitesimal calculus and mathematical mechanics soon ruined his grand synthesis. Descartes's scheme left out transcendental curves, i.e. curves with no polynomial equation, but in the course of these subsequent developments such curves emerged as indispensable. It was becoming harder and harder to juggle cutting-edge mathematics and ancient conceptions of its foundations at the same time, yet leading mathematicians, such as Leibniz felt compelled to do precisely this. The new mathematics fit more naturally an analytical conception of curves than a construction-based one, yet no one wanted to betray the latter, as this was seen as virtually tantamount to stop doing mathematics altogether. The credibility and authority of mathematics depended on it. Brings to light this underlying and often implicit complex of concerns that permeate early calculus Evaluates the technical conception and mathematical construction of the geometrical method Reveals a previously unrecognized Liebnizian programmatic cohesion in early calculus Provides a beautifully written work of outstanding original scholarship

Many scientists and engineers do not realize that, under certain conditions, friction can lead to the formation of new structures at the interface, including in situ tribofilms and various patterns. In turn, these structures-usually formed by destabilization of the stationary sliding regime-can lead to the reduction of friction and wear. Friction-I