Abstract
The identification of the origins of what we now call the theory of elastic stability is not an easy task. Most authors trace the origins to the pioneering work of Leonhard Euler in 1744, and some shift this origin to the experimental works of Petrus van Musschenbroek in 1729. However, other contemporary authors interested in the history of the discipline postulate that the works of Medieval and Renaissance scholars should be considered as the true sources of the buckling studies performed in the XVIII Century. This paper reports a historical research based on the original works of Al-Khazini, Jordanus de Nemore, Leonardo da Vinci, and Marini Merssene, in order to discuss what kind of Aknowledge they had about the topics of stability and lateral deflections of columns under axial loads. Our investigation shows that there were observations of the phenomenon considered, but those observations were not translated into a deeper understanding of the phenomenon, so that the causes of this efect or the role of strength on the response were not considered. Leonardo was closer than others in his understanding of the nature of the problem and produced some tentative rules of behavior; however, those were only documented in private writings and did not make an impact in his contemporaries or even 100 years later. We postulate that there was a continuity of problems between medieval authors and those who lived in the XVIII Century, rather than continuity in their concepts and approaches to solve those problems.
Highlights
INTRODUCTIONThere have been controversies regarding the origins of the field of elastic stability
During the last decade, there have been controversies regarding the origins of the field of elastic stability
This paper reports a historical research based on the original works of Al-Khazini, Jordanus de Nemore, Leonardo da Vinci, and Marini Merssene, in order to discuss what kind of knowledge they had about the topics of stability and lateral deflections of columns under axial loads
Summary
There have been controversies regarding the origins of the field of elastic stability. Special attention is given to factors outside the scientific field of research, such as those arising from the social, political, religious or economic context, and attempts are made to explain in what sense the scientific developments occurred in a way consistent with the historical/cultural context This methodology is based on the assumption that the design of theories is a manifestation of such historical/cultural context. L.A. Godoy / Structural stability concepts in medieval and renaissance mechanics 85 historiography of science, Kragh [25] mentions that both methodologies may help understanding the science history in different ways: an externalist approach, which is usually followed by historians, may provide valuable information on changes in many fields of science in a given period.
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