Stephen Ressler
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2022.
Language
English
Description
What would the Tower of Pisa be if it weren't leaning? Certainly not as attractive to tourists. That was the issue faced by the late-20th-century engineers who devised a way to reduce the tower's angle of tilt. Take a journey through the centuries to explore how various engineers tried to stabilize the leaning tower, but only succeeded in making the problem worse.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2022.
Language
English
Description
When the Tay Bridge in Scotland was completed in 1878, it became the longest bridge in the world. Discover the behind-the-scenes details of the bridge design and construction, and how the failure of one single, simple connection triggered a chain of events that brought down a 4,000-ton structure.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2017.
Language
English
Description
Finish your launch preparations by building a theodolite to measure the altitude of the rocket's trajectory, building a launch pad, packing the parachute, choosing a safe launch site, setting up the site, and coordinating the activities of the mission control team. Once all systems are go, conduct the countdown and press the firing button...
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2022.
Language
English
Description
On April 19, 1995, Timothy McVeigh's bomb demolished almost half of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, killing 168 people. Explore details of the building's design and specific ways in which various structural elements responded to the blast. Is it possible that modest changes to the steel reinforcement might have allowed the building to survive with only localized damage?
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2022.
Language
English
Description
One of the most epic engineering failures in history was the collapse of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge in 1940. Nicknamed "Galloping Gertie," the bridge undulated so strongly that thrill-seekers came from all over just to drive across it. Explore the inherent structural inefficiency of the suspension bridge, and why this bridge failed spectacularly only four months after its opening.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2017.
Language
English
Description
The pendulum clock was the standard for precise timekeeping for centuries. Plan and build one using your newly acquired knowledge of gears. Start by exploring why a pendulum keeps accurate time. Then calculate an appropriate pendulum length for the clock. Design the escapement mechanism and gear train, then add a suitable power source to keep the pendulum swinging.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2017.
Language
English
Description
Test the limits of small, inexpensive, off-the-shelf hobby motors by building a motor-driven crane capable of lifting 100 pounds - a tall order for a motor that weighs only a few ounces! First, construct the world's simplest electric motor to gain insights about how they work. Then calculate the torque requirements for your crane, and add gears and pulleys to achieve mechanical advantage.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2022.
Language
English
Description
In 1978, a developer chose to build a hotel in Kansas City using a management technique called fast-tracking, in which construction begins before the design is complete. What can happen when each principal assumes that someone else has designed a critical structural connection? Explore the series of mistakes that led to the tragic collapse of two suspended walkways and the deaths of 114 people.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2022.
Language
English
Description
Unlike most structural catastrophes, the 1986 Challenger disaster occurred on live TV. Explore behind the scenes to learn about what led to this catastrophic result. It will become clear that this disaster-which killed seven people and threw the entire US space program into crisis-was as much a failure of organizational decision-making as it was an engineering failure.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2022.
Language
English
Description
In December 1915, United States Industrial Alcohol (USIA) built-without any formal engineering design-a massive cylindrical steel tank along Boston's North End waterfront to store incoming shipments of molasses. When the tank ruptured three years later, 21 people died. Explore the phenomena of metal fatigue and brittle fracture and learn what role they played in the Great Boston Molasses Flood.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2022.
Language
English
Description
Some engineering failures occur when the construction process goes badly awry. Explore two such cases: one in which five people died trying to implement an ad hoc solution to an unexpected construction challenge and one in which a building collapse was caused by a flawed technology that was intended solely to improve construction efficiency.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2022.
Language
English
Description
Within days of filling its reservoir, the Teton Dam began to leak. By the end of the day the dam had been breached and the reservoir poured down the Teton Valley in a tidal wave. Explore the potentially catastrophic effects of water moving through soil under pressure-whether in dams and levees or in the liquefaction caused by earthquakes.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2022.
Language
English
Description
What does a 19th-century British railway disaster have in common with the 21st-century destruction caused by Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans? All were engineering failures that resulted in important improvements in the engineering process. Discover the very human issues that contributed to poor engineering decisions in these three cases, with disastrous consequences.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2017.
Language
English
Description
Follow the seven steps in the engineering design process to create a golf ball launcher that can hit a target ten feet away. Apply the principle of conservation of energy to select the right steel spring for the job. After building and testing the launcher, consider the joys of do-it-yourself projects and the insights they provide about fundamental engineering concepts.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2017.
Language
English
Description
Now that you understand the forces your cardboard tower must withstand, conduct a series of compressive and tensile strength experiments to determine the size and shape of your structure's beams, columns, and braces. After completing your design, build the tower using ordinary wood glue and simple tools. Then pile on concrete blocks and marvel at the strength of your creation.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2017.
Language
English
Description
Plunge into hydraulics, learning how force is transmitted from actuators to hydraulic cylinders through fluid-filled lines. Then use this knowledge to design and build a hydraulically powered mechanical arm that can grasp and manipulate a concrete block - controlled by four hand-operated syringes. Along the way, use 3D printing to fabricate several crucial parts.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2017.
Language
English
Description
Elegant and efficient, the suspension bridge is your next DIY effort. Span the same small stream as in the previous project, but support the deck with suspension cables draped between two 5-foot-tall towers. Analyze the flow of forces through the structural system before designing each element. A 3D computer model helps you plan this impressive project.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2017.
Language
English
Description
Complete your model plane by assembling a rubber motor that will serve as a source of power. Design, carve, and install an efficient propeller. Learn how to balance your aircraft and adjust its flight characteristics. Then find a large, open field, and try a few test glides to fine-tune the plane's performance. Finally, watch it take wing on a full-power flight.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2017.
Language
English
Description
It may sound suspiciously like a lead balloon, but a concrete boat can be made to float. Your engineering challenge is to create a concrete sailboat that can operate safely in 10-mph winds. Hydrostatics comes into play in designing a hull with sufficient buoyancy, and aerodynamics enters the picture in designing a sail that doesn't cause too much heeling in the wind.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2017.
Language
English
Description
Tackle the problem of designing a model rocket that carries a miniature video camera to 500 feet and then returns safely to earth by parachute. In this lesson, focus on selecting an off-the-shelf model rocket engine that can do the job. Use the impulse-momentum principle and thrust curves for various engines to predict your rocket's maximum altitude.