The Origins of Statics

Description

The appearance of this book in English translation almost a hundred years after the publication of the original is a witness to the lasting value of genuine scholarly research and of historical truth. Pierre Duhem (1861–1916) has presented the origins of statics as an integrated whole and given it a humanistic coloring which makes this book an excellent reference for the teaching of statics. He states that an unsuspected continuity existed between the scientific works of ancient Greece and those of the 16th century. The focus of Duhem's thesis of continuity is on the manuscripts of Jordanus de Nemore, who lived in the 13th century. In Volume I of the treatise Duhem shows the relation between ancient and modern statics. It turns out to be far closer than most investigators thought. The details and knowledge are wonderfully condensed in this volume. Volume II chronicles the development of the basic principles. It describes the difficulty which most investigators had in accepting the principle of virtual work. Throughout the book, Duhem emphasizes the development of this principle, which encompasses the summation of forces and moments as the criteria for equilibrium and has proved to be very useful to research in all fields of physical science. The treatise brings to the reader the gradual development of the most important concepts of mechanics and adds a significant dimension to the understanding of the history of science. Reviewed by [Peeter Müürsepp](http://ams.rice.edu/mathscinet/search/author.html?mrauthid=247364)