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Caltech

Mechanical and Civil Engineering Seminar

Thursday, January 16, 2020
11:00am to 12:00pm
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Gates-Thomas 135
History of the Free Body Diagram
John F. Hall, Professor, Department of Mechanical and Civil Engineering, California Institute of Technology,

The free-body diagram is ubiquitous in modern engineering textbooks on mechanics. How and when did this concept originate? Or has analysis always been done this way? This talk will try to answer the following questions: Who came up with the term "free-body diagram"? Who was the first person to draw a free-body diagram? Did people originally think in terms of free-body diagrams without drawing them? What tools did early analysts use and how have these tools evolved over time?

For more information, please contact Carolina Oseguera by phone at (626) 395-4271 or by email at [email protected].