Understanding the World's Great Structures: Science and Innovation from Antiquity to Modernity

by Stephen Ressler

n/a

Genres: Nonfiction, Science, History, Engineering

MP3 CD

Published January 1, 2011

About the author

Stephen Ressler is a Professor Emeritus from the United States Military Academy at West Point, where he taught for 21 years. He holds an MS and PhD in Civil Engineering from Lehigh University and is a registered professional engineer in Virginia. He served in a variety of military engineering assignments in the United States, Europe, and Central Asia. He has focused his scholarly and professional work on engineering education and has won numerous national awards for engineering education and service.

Reviews

[Jim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dr Ressler has presented a textbook (yep, I went there) example of how a course covering the basic elements of structural engineering should be taught (this is a review of the video presentation). A course such as this needs to be well-based in the basic concepts, established prior to diving into the world's famous, or even infamous, structures. This is especially true for the average Great Courses audience (maybe a little biased toward the liberal arts...no offense intended).

The presentation style is upbeat and Dr Ressler's enthusiasm is infectious. The use of models and animation (thanks to Peter Dwyer) is particularly effective. In my profession (geoscience) we have a friendly rivalry with our engineers (they tend to be more conservative and, well, kinda 'no fun')...if only I had worked with more structural engineers!

I will be traveling to Cornwall, UK later this week and intend to visit the Cathedral in Truro...the pre-trip research shows a gothic structure similar to one of Ressler's examples from Lecture 11. I'll be testing myself on that one!

Another strong point on these lectures is the excellent guidebook. Many times a guidebook is overlooked in video presentations...don't ignore this one (not only because it gives the answers to the lecture-ending questions), it's a perfect compliment to the lectures!

Well done...I will never look at another structure the same way, especially when noticing those pesky cracks in the ceilings of poorly designed buildings.

Highest recommendation (on par with my favorite lecturer, Dr Hazen).
Get it when it's on sale...a bonus with a coupon.

[Travis · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this is the third of this lecturer's courses that I have enjoyed (though maybe I haven't noted prior ones; tricky since they are DVDs technically). As with his other lecture series, this one was fun and informative; I think he has almost too much fun making his little models for everything. More than many other lecture series I've consumed, I find this one staying with me as I find myself considering the structure and the flow of forces in things around me; though sadly there are few really interesting structures that I see on a regular basis to analyze.

[Carl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Courses lectures on Kanopy (free). I’ve watched numerous Great Courses lecture series— one of the best. Engineering is front and center. Influence on architecture and design of engineering necessitates. Highly recommended

[Alan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super enjoyable lecture series on civil engineering