BULLAMANKA-PINHEADS Archives

The listserv where the buildings do the talking

BULLAMANKA-PINHEADS@LISTSERV.ICORS.ORG

Options: Use Forum View

Use Monospaced Font
Show Text Part by Default
Show All Mail Headers

Message: [<< First] [< Prev] [Next >] [Last >>]
Topic: [<< First] [< Prev] [Next >] [Last >>]
Author: [<< First] [< Prev] [Next >] [Last >>]

Print Reply
Subject:
From:
"Martin C. Tangora" <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
The listserv where the buildings do the talking <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Fri, 29 Jan 2010 18:34:10 -0600
Content-Type:
text/plain
Parts/Attachments:
text/plain (57 lines)
Sorry, that day there were so many emails that my digest crashed.

Re magazines that report and investigate failures,
see Aviation Week.  (Although I have not read it for years,
so maybe they have changed.)

Long ago when I was a rocket scientist I used to go to
the company library every few days, and AW was one of
the things I looked at.

Whenever there was a crash of an airliner, or any
event of a similar nature, AW reported it diligently.
I can't say whether they did any independent reporting,
but when the FAA report came out (based e.g. on the "black box")
there would be a long serious article in AW.

On (almost) the same topic, I once again recommend to all of you
the book by the late Professor J. E. Gordon,
"The new science of strong materials,
or why you don't fall through the floor."
If any of you ever reads a book with pleasure,
I promise you that you will read this one with pleasure.
Depending on your tolerance for actual science,
you might have to skip a couple of chapters,
but the rest of the book is about failure of materials,
which you are all interested in, written by a guy
who worked on why WW2 bombers failed,
how to build wooden boats, etc.
(I urged you all to read it many years ago,
when Professor Gordon was still alive,
but as far as I know none of you followed my advice.)

>Fri, 15 Jan 2010 16:35:06 EST
>
>... this earthquake, as others, shows the tremendous variety and complexity
>of building failures.   I am sure the UN (or some agency) will produce, somewhere,
>a medical forensic report, reviewing the deaths and survivals,
>increasing knowledge of how to better respond to disasters.
>
>But it appears to me that there is no regular journal which covers similar "deaths,"
>for buildings and structures.  As someone on the list pointed out a few years ago
>"Failure Magazine" would indeed be a hard advertising sell, wouldn't it?
>
>C


Martin C. Tangora
University of Illinois at Chicago
[log in to unmask]

--
**Please remember to trim posts, as requested in the Terms of Service**

To terminate puerile preservation prattling among pals and the
uncoffee-ed, or to change your settings, go to:
<http://listserv.icors.org/archives/bullamanka-pinheads.html>

ATOM RSS1 RSS2