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Famous Engineers
> The Engineer Who Built Marshmallow
Bridges
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He was so scrawny and small at birth that the physician said he would never amount to much. It was a rather inauspicious start for a man who, in his 90 years of life, touched the lives of so many and left a legacy that went far beyond the field of engineering. |
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He was born in Rome in 1907 and as a boy wanted to become a musician. That was really his passion as a child, not engineering or mathematics, the subjects in which he earned his two doctorate degrees. |
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But his father, and others, convinced him to make a more serious career choice. And he did. After all, the kid who was born at such a light weight was not such a “light weight” in academics. In fact, after receiving his second doctorate from the University of Rome, he became a member of the faculty and later its president. |
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In later life, living in New York, he mentored inner city children as young as junior high age in the theories of engineering. It was said that he treated students as if they were intelligent human beings, and that they responded with intelligence. Perhaps that’s how he touched so many. |
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His work was practical as well as academic. Among other projects, he was instrumental in the design of the New York Building known as Black Rock, the headquarters of CBS. Covered in black Canadian granite, this structure became an immediate landmark. In engineering circles, the building was known as one of the first and most-noteworthy reinforced-concrete bearing-wall structures in the world. It is interesting to note that the exterior wall columns are hollow, containing ducts for the building’s HVAC system. |
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But some think that his greatest
achievement was making engineering understandable to the
masses through his books that asked and answered the question
"Why ...?"
Who was this engineer and
educator who was gifted with the ability to make complicated
engineering concepts understandable to the layperson?
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Italian-born Mario George Salvadori was a charismatic professor, first at the University of Rome and later at Columbia University. An extremely bright, educated man, he had an amazing knack for being able to explain the most difficult concepts in a fashion understandable to the common man.
Perhaps that’s why Dr. Salvadori’s students responded to his instruction. Perhaps it was the hands-on method of training – using drinking straws, marshmallows and string to build models of buildings and bridges. Maybe it was his intricately folded paper models of structures that caught the eye of the students.
Whatever it was, he genuinely touched his students. He was also an author, writing many books that are still available today. Like his classroom instruction, his writings were known to bring difficult engineering questions and answers to the level where the average person could understand and learn.
Three books, perhaps his most popular books, are where he asked
and and answered the question "Why ...?"
Entitled “Why Buildings Stand Up,” “Why Buildings Fall Down,” and “Why the Earth Quakes,” this series of books provides understandable engineering insight to those without
an engineering background. In fact, a review of “Why Buildings Fall Down,” published in the New Times said that every reader “is sure to find a disaster that suits his or her taste.”
These books are still readily available today at book stores around the world.
Mario Salvadori was already 88 years old when “Why the Earth Quakes” was published. Only a few years later, he died at the age of 90. In 1999, he was posthumously named one of the top 20 structural engineers of the previous 125 years by Engineering News-Record.
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 If
you're interested in reading Dr. Salvadori's works, they are
still available for purchase: |
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