The Engineer and the Scandal: A Piece of Science History

The Engineer and the Scandals offers both an in-depth study of a critical step in the evolution of the theory of porous media and an absorbing tale of interpersonal dispute and ultimate tragedy involving two key theorists. Both working at the Technische Hochschule in Vienna, Karl von Terzaghi, 'the father of modern soil mechanics, ' and Paul Fillunger engaged in a long disagreement in the 1930s over the handling of the physical problems in porous bodies. The ugly confrontation with its tragic end was a scandal in many respects, not only in Vienna but throughout the international engineering community, and perhaps a microcosm of wider unrest and upheaval in contemporaneous Middle Europe. Using biographical and scientific details, this book brings to life these diametrically opposed personalities, their clash of ideas and styles, and the sad consequences.