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Coulomb's Memoir on Statics cover

Coulomb read his Essai on ‘some statical problems’ to the French Academy in 1773. It is a document of great importance in the history of engineering since it laid the foundations of the modern science of soil mechanics and also discussed three other major problems of eighteenth-century civil engineering: the bending of beams, the fracture of columns and the calculation of abutment thrusts developed by masonry arches.

Professor Heyman's book makes the Essai accessible to a wide range of engineers and historians of technology. It is here reproduced in full with an annotated English translation, a chapter elucidating Coulomb's references and with full discussion of the technical problems it treats. It concludes with some brief historical notes on Coulomb's life and technical education in eighteenth-century France.


Contents:
  • The ESSAI
  • Coulomb's References
  • The Strength and Stiffness of Beams
  • Coulomb's Equation
  • The Thrust of Soil
  • The Thrust of Arches
  • Some Historical Notes

Readership: Engineers and researchers in the history of science and engineering.