"over land, sea and air…"
We are living turbulent ages… there is no doubt. However, we still could find the truth if you would want to. This section may help us. They will teach us. Not be afraid but free; and keep in mind we are talking about a "hazardous journey, small wages, bitter cold, long months of complete darkness, constant danger, safe return doubtful. Honor and recognition in case of success." (Sir Ernest Shackleton). Let me talk about some of the best engineers and teachers all over the world.
Claude-Louis Henri Navier, 1785-1836 (France)
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One of the greatest; he is well known not only for the Navier-Stokes fluid equations or their studies about elasticity but also for his character. We would like to remark a couple of examples to follow especially nowadays, when some people don't seem to be really honest neither strong.
When the political and financial stablishment tried to attack him because of the accident in the "Pont des Invalides" (we would say because their envy indeed) over the Seine River in Paris, he defended himself without any reference to their enemies. The conclusion is clear, today we are still using the science of Navier and no one knows anything at all about those ridiculous and lamentable persons... Navier's father died when he was only eight. Then his uncle took care of him and encouraged Navier to enter the "École Polytechnique". Navier may just have been a late developer, for he only just scraped into to École Polytechnique when he was twenty nine. However, from almost bottom place on entry, Navier made such progress in his first year at the "École" that he was one of the top ten students at the end of the year and chosen for special field work in Boulogne in his second year. |
Eduardo Torroja y Miret, 1899-1961 (Spain)
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He wrote "Razón y ser de los tipos estructurales", a must-read for every engineer. And he brought the concrete (both reinforced and prestressed into reality throughout structures he built.
From his perfect arches to his incredibles thin shells, he shown how an engineer see the world, like an "poetic rationalist". The latter means that D. Eduardo believed that a structure must follow the personality of its engineer. So he developed new ways of looking and making structures as well as ways to increase the strength and beauty. Within his huge production, we are citing Tempul cable stayed aqueduct,the concreteshell-roof at the Algeciras Market Hall, the water tower in Fedala, the hyperbolic roof of hippodrome "Zarzuela" and the concrete arch of the Martin Gil viaduct. |
Álvaro del Portillo Díez de Sollano, 1914-1994 (Spain)
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He studied civil engineering and began working professionally in that field, in a number of state water authorities. To his doctorate in engineering he later added doctorates in history and canon law. But he got famous being Catholic Bishop and now, Blessed.
His kindness, the warmth of his smile, his humility, his supernatural courage and his work have built a bridge -long span bridge, we would say- between mankind and God. “The priesthood is not a career,” he wrote in 1986, “but a generous, complete self-giving, without calculation or limits, to be sowers of peace and joy in the world, and to open the gates of Heaven to those who benefit from this service and ministry.” As the Prelate of Opus Dei, he inspired the start of many social and educational initiatives all over the world, as well as academic institutions. |
