An Introduction to the History of Structural Mechanics

of Part II.- III Arches, Domes and Vaults.- 9 Knowledge and Prejudice before the Eighteenth Century.- 9.1 "A Strength Caused by Two Weaknesses".- 9.2 Viviani's "On the Formation and Size" of Vaults.- 9.3 Fr. Derand's Rule.- 9.4 The First "Scientific" Treatment of the Statics of Arches.- 10 First Theories about the Statics of Arches and Domes.- 10.1 Philippe de la Hire.- 10.2 Arches and Catenaries: David Gregory and Jakob Bernoulli.- 10.3 Philippe de la Hire's Memoir of 1712.- 10.4 Belidor's Variant.- 10.5 Couplet's Two Memoirs.- 10.6 Bouguer's First Static Theory of Domes.- 11 Architectonic Debates.- 11.1 The Italians: An Introduction.- 11.2 The Case of S. Maria del Fiore in Florence.- 11.3 St. Peter's Dome and the Three Mathematicians.- 11.4 Giovanni Poleni's "Historical Memoirs".- 11.5 Poleni's Theoretical and Experimental Work.- 11.6 Boscovich and the Cathedral of Milan.- 12 Later Research.- 12.1 The "Best Figure of Vaults": Abbe Bossut.- 12.2 Coulomb's Theory of Frictionless Vaults.- 12.3 Coulomb's Theory: Friction and Cohesion.- 12.4 Italian Studies on Vaults in the Late Eighteenth Century.- 12.5 Lorgna's Essays.- 12.6 Fontana's Treatise.- 12.7 Mascheroni's "New Researches": The Limit Analysis of Arches.- 12.8 Mascheroni and Domes of Finite Thickness.- 12.9 Salimbeni's Treatise.- 12.10 The Nineteenth Century: Further Developments.- IV The Theory of Elastic Systems.- 13 The Eighteenth-century Debate on the Supports Problem.- 13.1 Introduction.- 13.2 The Birth of the Question.- 13.3 Discussion in Eighteenth-century Italy.- 13.4 Volume 8 of the Memoriedella Societa Italiana.- 14 The Path Towards Energetical Principles.- 14.1 The Debate Continues.- 14.2 The Nineteenth Century: An Introduction.- 14.3 The Philosopher Who Understood Everything.- 14.4 From Cournot to Dorna.- 14.5 Clapeyron and the Case of the Continuous Beam.- 14.6 Menabrea's Elasticity Principle.- 15 The Discovery of General Methods for the Calculation of Elastic Systems.- 15.1 Clebsch's Treatise and the "Method of Deformations".- 15.2 Maxwell's Fundamental Memoir on Frames.- 15.3 Maxwell and the "Method of Forces".- 15.4 The Goal Attained.- 16 From the Theory of Elastic Systems to Structural Engineering.- 16.1 Alberto Castigliano.- 16.2 Some Aspects of Castigliano's Work.- 16.3 Francesco Crotti's Clarification.- 16.4 Mohr's "Beitrage": Statically Determinate Trusses.- 16.5 Mohr's Solution for Statically Indeterminate Trusses.- 16.6 German Disputes about Castligliano's and Mohr's Methods.- Author Index.