Publikace

Intellectual Network on the Example of Development and Sharing of Knowledge in Structural Mechanics during the Long 19th Century

prof. Dr. Ing. Martin Pospíšil, Ph.D.

The development of Czech technical education and industry during the long 19th century was closely connected with German language. This situation is illustrated in the field of structural mechanics—in the first half of the 19th century by western European reflections of some works of F. J. Gerstner and F. Schnirch published in German. Followed is the transmission of the most complex computational method of that time, graphic statics, from the place of its origin, Zurich in Switzerland, to Bohemia and Moravia, which happened very fast thanks to Czech-German bilinguality in both Prague and Brno academical environments. In a nutshell, during the whole 19th century industrial development—French esprit, German precision and British practicality in the field of civil engineering is evident and the Czech building industry received a good portion from all of these qualities. This was manifested not only by the emergence of elegant structures of new bridges, modern marketplaces or magnificent public buildings constructed in Bohemia and Moravia, but also by positively reflected theoretical works of scholars who were active in Czech historical lands in those times. Conclusion of the paper illustrates the importance of the German language milieu as a functional intellectual network for the transfer of knowledge in the field of technology in the Central European area.

Za obsah této stránky zodpovídá: prof. Ing. arch. Petr Vorlík, Ph.D.