The Cathedral and the Bridge

When Montgomery Schuyler wrote in 1883 what was perhaps the first critical essay on a work of modern engineering as a work of art (the Brooklyn Bridge), he recognized the cultural similarity between the Gothic cathedrals of the 13th century and the long-span bridges of his own era.1 Just as the cathedrals symbolized the medieval world of stone, so did the bridges of the Industrial Revolution symbolize the new technological world of metal. Yet, while most educated persons of the 20th century will know something of medieval cathedrals and perceive such knowledge as essential to a liberal education, few are familiar with the great modern structures or would accord them a central place in higher learning. Here, we seek to explore two reasons for this cultural neglect. One is related to a misconception about the cathedral itself and the other to a mistaken belief that a deeper understanding of modern engineering is both inaccessible to the non-engineer and without intrinsic cultural value. Our aim is to show how historical study from an engineering perspective can correct such misunderstanding while making the technical questions intelligible to the general public

Art · Bridge (graph theory) · Programming language · Structural engineering · Symbol (formal) · Anatomy · Computer Science · Construction Engineering and Safety · Design Education and Practice · Engineering · Historical Architecture and Urbanism · Medicine

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