_about

\

HYDRAULICIANS IN EUROPE 1800 - 2000

A biographical dictionary of leaders in hydraulic engineering and fluid mechanics. Volume 2

\

Willi H. Hager

\

VAW, ETH-Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland

\

\ \ \

\

PREFACE

\ \ \ \ \ Five years ago, volume 1 of the "Hydraulicians" appeared, including some 700 individuals in hydraulics, hydrology, meteorology, fluid mechanics and other fluid-related sciences. The book covered practically all Europe, from Portugal to Russia, and from Ireland to Turkey. Some countries such as Iceland or Malta were not included because of the lack of information for a biographical dictionary, at least from the author's perspective.

\ \ \ \ \ Volume 2 is a continuation of the former book, relating also to Europe and particularly to Europeans having worked also abroad, such as a number of colonial engineers of the former British Empire, people born in Europe and having become known in the Americas, mainly in the USA, and few people born abroad but having made their entire career in Europe. I was astonished to find such a lar ge number of individuals again, of course with the main bio dates within the 20th century. Overall, almost 10% of the individuals included in volume 2 passed away prior to 1900, indicating the tremendous increase of research in fluid-related sciences, mainly from World War II.

\ \ \ \ \ Except for some isolated researchers, most advances were made in Central Europe, notably in Italy, France, Great Britain and Germany. Only in the 20th century, other countries set up their research centres, with a wider focus for problems in "hydraulics" and related topics.

\ \ \ \ \ As in volume 1, the individuals are also alphabetically arranged by country in volume 2, allowing for a simpler retrieval of professional colleagues. All persons included in both volumes are alphabetically listed at the end of volume 2. The concept of volume 1 was followed also in the present work, namely the attribution of 1 page for each person having passed away. This page includes the bio-data, i.e. dates and locations of birth and death, a short CV and then the reason for inclusion in the book. The page also gives a short bibliography with the main works of the person considered and secondary literature on her or his biography. In some cases, pages from the Internet are also cited in which additional information may be found. Each page contains also the portrait of the person, as far as it was located. The country in which the individual worked is highlighted in this volume with a hydrographical map, containing the main rivers of the region. These maps allow to locate the main rivers and were downloaded from the Internet at http://www.schweizerweltatlas.ch/td.kopiervorlagen.html.

\ \ \ \ \ The question whether volume 1 rather includes the "big shots" and volume 2 the less important persons may not be answered. Both volumes would like to present both generally known important individuals and less known but still notable persons who have contributed to the advance of our profession. The quality of biographies depends of course much on the base material available. When asking colleagues whom should be included in such a book from a certain country, normally a number of names are stated. However, when continuing asking where material would be available, I often found a silent opposite. I am therefore grateful to all who add information not only by passing me a name, but also by helping to find the biography. The Internet is currently an aid in contacting people. However, relatively few indications directly usable for the present book were found. Lots of people think that all such information is accessible by googling, whereas few biographies were completed exclusively with this aid. The computer is of course a great aid in finding those who might have an answer on a particular question, and therefore is about to replace the phone. During my researches, I still had dozens of telephone searches, provided the name I was looking for was sufficiently limited that some evenings allowed to find an answer, positive or negative. In some special cases, my searches went over years, in some for more than 10 years, with both positive and negative results. It is maybe too early at this time to give up, and one or the other chance may finally still of fer the answer to a question.

\ \ \ \ \ I would almost bet that it will be more dif ficult to retrieve a biography of a "normal individual" of 2000 than of the 1950s or even of 1900. The reason is a change in our society: Whereas Members of certain associations were "honoured" with an Obituary in the time of our fathers and grandfathers, we actually have an information flood of an extremely short memory. One means to counter such a development is a regularly organized Obituary Section, as is actually provided for instance with the IAHR hydrolink. I therefore can only ask anybody interested to provide short notices on colleagues who have passed away in your country, to make the information generally available. Thank you in the name of the IAHR or ganisation, and similar associations worldwide.

\ \ \ \ \ This work would have not been possible without the active support and help of many friends, officials, libraries, and individuals. I have compiled a list of the main supporters on the next page. I would like to acknowledge further the help of David Vetsch, VAW, for preparing the final outline of this book, and Walter Thürig, VAW, for his patience with the portraits. Our community can only develop in the future if the past is taken suf ficiently into consideration. This work would like to document the great past of eminent European hydraulicians!

Zurich, 2009\ \ \ \ \ WHH

\

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

\ \ \ \ \ This book is the work of many, because a biography needs the support of a number of institutions, unless all information is readily available. The family of the person concerned is certainly the most precious source, given that it knows the person not only by his profession but also privately. The family often is able to provide a portrait. If the family may not be found, the bio data can often be located from a registrar, or from the city authorities. Most of my inquiries were positively answered, but there is a trend to more privacy, resulting in complicated actions via the family, if a member may be located.

\ \ \ \ \ Libraries are a precious source for the bibliography and for obituaries of a certain person. I have contacted hundreds of institutions until the present volume was in its final shape. At the end, there was a funny impression: The larger a library, the more difficult is the access. Lar ge libraries such as the Bibliothèque Nationale de France, the British Library or others either do not respond to questions by e-mail, or they charge a considerable amount of money based on an time unit. If those libraries are visited, the access can be complicated, photocopies are normally not made, and the number of documents presented at one time is limited. I can therefore recommend to find information rather at smaller institutions.

\

I would like to acknowledge the following for their help towards this work:

\

Austria\ \ \ Österreichischer Ingenieur- und Architekten-Verein, Wien

Belgium\ \ \ Library, Université Catholique, Louvain-la-Neuve

Croatia\ \ \ Mr. Ljudevit Tropan, B.Sc. Civ. Engng., Zagreb

Czech Republic\ \ \ Prof. Pavel Novak, Newcastle/Tyne, UK

Denmark\ \ \ Kirsten Djørup, Hellerup

Estonia\ \ \ Prof. Uno Liiv, Tallinn

Finland\ \ \ Kirsti Antin, Finnish historical bibliography, National Library, Helsinki

France\ \ \ Mme. Catherine Masteau, Bibliothèque, Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées, Paris

Bibliothèque Municipale, Lyon

Germany\ \ \ Bibliothek, Technische Universität, Berlin

Hungary\ \ \ Dr. Petr Bakonyi, VITUKI, Budapest

Mr. Béla Tolnai, Budapest

Ireland\ \ \ National Library, Dublin

Italy\ \ \ Prof. Dr. Corrado Gisonni, Secunda Università, Napoli

Library, Università di Padova

Netherlands\ \ \ National Library, Amsterdam

Norway\ \ \ Library, Technical University, Trondheim

Poland\ \ \ Prof. Dr.-Ing.em. Z. Mikulski, University Warsaw

Portugal\ \ \ Prof. Antonio F. Quintela, Instituto Superior Tecnico, Lisbon

Russia\ \ \ Prof. G.K. Mikhailov, Academy of Sciences, Moscow

VNIIG, Saint Petersburg

Ukraine\ \ \ Prof. Alexej Shchodro, University of Rivne, Rivne UE

Spain\ \ \ Prof. Dr. Miguel Ángel Gil Saurí, University Politécnica, Valencia

Dr. Oscar Castro-Orgaz, Universidad de Cordoba

Colegio de Ingenieros de Caminos, Canales y Puertos, Madrid

Switzerland\ \ \ Dr. Jens Unger, formerly VAW, ETH-Zurich, Zurich

Turkey\ \ \ Prof. Mehmetçik Bayazit, Technical University, Istanbul

UK\ \ \ Mrs. Carol Morgan, Institution of Civil Engineers, London

\

Persons having contributed to one individual presented in this book are acknowledged directly on the page concerned. I would like to thank to all those who have helped that this project became true.

\

see also List of Individuals