Hydraulicians in the USA 1800-2000: A biographical dictionary of leaders in hydraulic engineering and fluid mechanics (IAHR Monographs) - Hardcover

Hager, Willi H.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1138028282 ISBN 13: 9781138028289

Publisher: CRC Press, 2015

Synopsis

This book provides 1-page short biographies of scientists and engineers having worked in the areas of hydraulic engineering and fluid dynamics in the USA. On each page, a notable individual is highlighted by: (1) Exact dates and locations of birth and death; (2) Educational and professional details, including also awards received; (3) Reasons for inclusion in the book by highlighting key publications; (4) Short bibliography including both individual’s own, and source literature such as Who’s Who details, or origination details of the portrait; (5) In most cases, an illustrative portrait or photo showing, for example, a book cover of the individual, or photograph of a typical work such as a dam or a canal.

This volume includes almost 1,000 individuals, of which there are only 2 women. The book also provides a detailed Index, and a 2-page list of individuals (normally born in Europe) listed in previous volumes (1 and 2), but having a relation to this volume 3. The book also contains a map of the USA highlighting the major American rivers, with a close relation to projects carried out by several of the individuals presented in the book.

This book provides a beautiful overview of the many scientists and engineers having contributed to the current knowledge in hydraulic engineering and fluid mechanics. The author made every effort in compiling the most important hydraulicians of the USA in this work as it will become much more difficult in future decades to find biographical details on these, given the current policy that so few memoirs or necrologues are published.

About this title

About the Author:

Willi H. Hager (*1951) was educated at ETH Zurich, from where he obtained the civil engineering degree in 1976, the PhD degree in 1981, the habilitation degree in 1994, and he is there professor of hydraulics since 1998.
He was research associate at ETH Lausanne from 1983 to 1988, returning to Versuchsanstalt für Wasserbau, Hydrologie und Glaziologie (VAW) in 1989 as head of the scientific staff. During the past 35 years of his professional activities, he was interested in hydraulic structures, wastewater hydraulics, high-speed flows, impulse waves, scour and erosion, and in the history of hydraulics, mainly in biographies of notable individuals of water engineering. He has published numerous works on the above mentioned topics both in peer-review journals as well as in national journals and at scientific congresses. He also authored books on these topics, among which are Dam Hydraulics (1998), Constructions hydrauliques (2009), Wastewater Hydraulics (2010) and two volumes on Hydraulicians in Europe. He was awarded the 1997 Ippen Lecture from the Intl. Association for Hydro-Environment Engineering and Research (IAHR) becoming an Honorary Member in 2013. He also was the recipient of the Best Technical Note Award, and the Hydraulic Structures Medal of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), among other distinctions.

Homepage: http://www.vaw.ethz.ch/people/hy/hagerw

Review:

"[...] there is currently no similar book on biographies in water engineering; the book therefore fills a gap that is very useful to all those who search for biographical information on hydraulicians [...] The author has again demonstrated his sound overview on the history of hydraulics and the key persons involved, as well as his investigative skills to find relevant biographical information, even including portraits, on persons having lived up to two centuries ago."

Prof. Dr. Robert Boes, Director of the Laboratory of Hydraulics, Hydrology and Glaciology, Zurich, Switzerland

 

"In a tremendous research work Willi H. Hager collected very rich bibliographic information on 992 hydrauliancs [...] It is fascinating to read what these masters in the field have done during their lives. When one starts reading a biography in this book, the risk is to become so captivated that it leads you from one personality to the other."

Prof. Dr. Anton J. Schleiss, Director at EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland

 

"This massive third book by Hager follows on his two-volume biographical dictionary (2003) covering the field in Europe over the same time span. It includes almost 1,000 notable scientists and engineers, primarily civil or mechanical, as well as some inventors who died during the period. Each one-page entry notes the individual's education and career, describing the major accomplishments, professional memberships, details of birth and death and, occasionally, personal life, with portraits when available. (...) Because it draws on many historic sources to portray the key contributors to an important field, the book is useful for all libraries maintaining civil engineering collections."

J. J. Meier, Pennsylvania State University, in 'Choice' April 2016 issue.

About this edition

• Publisher: CRC Press
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 1138028282
• ISBN 13: 9781138028289
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 1040