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O INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF HYDRAULIC ENGINEERING AND RESEARCH
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G MONOGRAPH
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Hydraulicians
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Hydraulicians in Europe 1800-2000 y
d in Europe
by Willi H. Hager
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Volume 2 of Hydraulicians in Europeis a continuation of the first volume, both in outline as also in coverage
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and pagination. More than 850 individuals partly forgotten by name, but sometimes found in historical
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writings, together with many well known or recently deceased persons are presented in terms of bio-data, 1800-2000
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short career highlights, main advances made to the profession with a short bibliography of the main
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writings. If available, the portrait is also added. Volumes 1 and 2 include more than 1500 biographies. c
Volume 2
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Professor Hager should be complimented for his scholarly masterpiece. This monumental compendium
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of single-page bio-sketches highlights past European contributions in hydraulics. These brief portraits
and professional career summaries bring vibrant life to scientists and engineers known through i
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formulas, methods and procedures. This monograph not only commemorates past contributions, it
will also inspire future generations to pursue deeply-rooted multi-disciplinary research at the
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international level.
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Prof. Pierre Julien
Colorado State University r
Fort Collins, USA o
p
e
Hydraulicians in Europe 1800-2000 by Willi H. Hager published by IAHR in 2003 was the first volume
of a monumental task undertaken by the author. In this second volume of the same format as its 2 1
predecessor Prof. Hager mainly fills in gaps of volume 1 adding also biographies of more recently 0 8
deceased scientists and engineers in the field of hydraulic engineering . Together volumes 1 and 2 are 0 0
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not only evidence of the author’s erudition and enthusiasm but above all a very valuable and lasting
reference.
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Emeritus Professor P. Novak
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School of Civil Engineering and Geosciences l
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University of Newcastle upon Tyne, UK H
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A biographical dictionary of
leaders in hydraulic engineering
and fluid mechanics
http://www.iahr.net Willi H. Hager, VAW, ETH-Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
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Hydraulicians in Europe 1800 - 2000
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Hydraulicians in Europe
1800 - 2000
Abiographical dictionary of leaders in
hydraulic engineering and fluid mechanics
Volume 2
Willi H. Hager
VAW, ETH-Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
2009
IAHR International Association of Hydraulic Engineering and Research, Madrid, Spain
CRC Press
Taylor & Francis Group
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Boca Raton, FL 33487-2742
© 2009 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
CRC Press is an imprint of Taylor & Francis Group, an Informa business
No claim to original U.S. Government works
Version Date: 20120215
International Standard Book Number-13: 978-1-4665-5498-6 (eBook - PDF)
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To our three daughters Olivia, Mirjam and Caren
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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 particu-
larly 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 large 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 per-
son 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 sec-
ondary 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.
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viii Preface
The Internet is currently an aid in contacting people. However, relatively few indica-
tions 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 offer the
answer to a question.
I would almost bet that it will be more difficult 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 col-
leagues who have passed away in your country, to make the information generally
available. Thank you in the name of the IAHR organisation, 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 sup-
porters 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 sufficiently into consideration. This work would like to document the
great past of eminent European hydraulicians!
Zurich, 2009 WHH
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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 con-
cerned 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. Large 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
