Carl Culmann (10 July 1821 – 9 December 1881) was a German
structural engineer
Structural engineers analyze, design, plan, and research structural components and structural systems to achieve design goals and ensure the safety and comfort of users or occupants. Their work takes account mainly of safety, technical, economic ...
.
Born in
Bad Bergzabern,
Rhenish Palatinate, in modern-day
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
, Culmann's father, a pastor, tutored him at home before enrolling him at the military engineering school at
Metz
Metz ( , , lat, Divodurum Mediomatricorum, then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers. Metz is the prefecture of the Moselle department and the seat of the parliament of the Grand E ...
to prepare for entry to the
École Polytechnique
École may refer to:
* an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée)
* École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France
* École, Savoi ...
. Culmann's ambitions were frustrated by an attack of
typhoid
Typhoid fever, also known as typhoid, is a disease caused by '' Salmonella'' serotype Typhi bacteria. Symptoms vary from mild to severe, and usually begin six to 30 days after exposure. Often there is a gradual onset of a high fever over several ...
and, after a long convalescence, he attended the
Karlsruhe Polytechnic School. He joined the
Bavaria
Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...
n
civil service
The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leaders ...
in 1841 as an
apprentice
Apprenticeship is a system for training a new generation of practitioners of a trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study (classroom work and reading). Apprenticeships can also enable practitioners to gain a ...
engineer in the design of
railroad
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...
bridge
A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...
s.
[Hartenberg (1981)]
Continuing his mathematical studies, in particular under
L. C. Schnürlein, in 1847 Culmann transferred to
Munich
Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...
so that he could improve his
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
in anticipation of a study tour to the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
and the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
. His tour lasted from 1849 to 1851, studying the comparative designs of
truss
A truss is an assembly of ''members'' such as beams, connected by ''nodes'', that creates a rigid structure.
In engineering, a truss is a structure that "consists of two-force members only, where the members are organized so that the assembl ...
bridge
A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...
s and developing new analytical techniques to facilitate his investigations.
In 1855, he took up the chair of engineering sciences at the
Swiss Federal Institute of Technology,
Zürich
Zürich () is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zürich. It is located in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zürich. As of January 2020, the municipality has 43 ...
, holding the post until his death.
Inspired by the work of
Jean-Victor Poncelet
Jean-Victor Poncelet (; 1 July 1788 – 22 December 1867) was a French engineer and mathematician who served most notably as the Commanding General of the École Polytechnique. He is considered a reviver of projective geometry, and his work ''Tr ...
, Culmann was a pioneer of graphical methods in engineering, publishing his seminal book on the topic, ''Die graphische Statik'' (''Graphic Statics'') in 1865. A French language translation was prepared in 1879.
[C. Culmann, translated by G. Glasser, J. Jacquier & A. Valat (1879]
Traite de Statique Graphique
via Internet Archive
Culmann had a profound influence on a generation of
engineer
Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...
s including
Maurice Koechlin
Maurice Koechlin (8 March 1856 – 14 January 1946) was a Franco- Swiss structural engineer from the Koechlin family.
Life
A member of the renowned Alsatian Koechlin family, he was born in Buhl, Haut-Rhin, the son of Jean Koechlin and hi ...
,
Otto Mohr and
Luigi Cremona
Antonio Luigi Gaudenzio Giuseppe Cremona (7 December 1830 – 10 June 1903) was an Italian mathematician. His life was devoted to the study of geometry and reforming advanced mathematical teaching in Italy. He worked on algebraic curves and alge ...
. He died in
Zürich
Zürich () is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zürich. It is located in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zürich. As of January 2020, the municipality has 43 ...
,
Switzerland
). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
.
[ non.(2001)]
See also
*
Biomechanics
Biomechanics is the study of the structure, function and motion of the mechanical aspects of biological systems, at any level from whole organisms to organs, cells and cell organelles, using the methods of mechanics. Biomechanics is a branch of ...
*
Mechanostat The Mechanostat is a term describing the way in which mechanical loading influences bone structure by changing the mass (amount of bone) and architecture (its arrangement) to provide a structure that resists habitual loads with an economical amount ...
*
Mohr's circle
Mohr's circle is a two-dimensional graphical representation of the transformation law for the Cauchy stress tensor.
Mohr's circle is often used in calculations relating to mechanical engineering for materials' strength, geotechnical engineer ...
*
Truss
A truss is an assembly of ''members'' such as beams, connected by ''nodes'', that creates a rigid structure.
In engineering, a truss is a structure that "consists of two-force members only, where the members are organized so that the assembl ...
References
Bibliography
*
non."Culmann, Carl", ''
Encyclopædia Britannica
The (Latin for "British Encyclopædia") is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It is published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.; the company has existed since the 18th century, although it has changed ownership various time ...
'', Deluxe CDROM edition
*Crystal, David (ed.) (1998) "Culmann, Karl (1821-1881)" ''The Cambridge Biographical Encyclopedia'' (2nd ed.) Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, England,
*Hartenberg, R. S. (1981) "Cullman, Karl" in
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Culmann, Carl
1821 births
1881 deaths
People from Bad Bergzabern
ETH Zurich faculty
Structural engineers
German civil engineers
People from the Palatinate (region)
Engineers from Rhineland-Palatinate
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology alumni