|
|
||
|
|
|
|
Also see Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Timoshenko
Elected Foreign Member of the Royal Society in 1944
Stephen Prokofievitch Timoshenko will long be remembered as an outstanding scientist, distinguished engineer, and a great and inspiring teacher. His long and active career extended from Czarist Russia, across Europe, and finally to America. The events of his interesting and often exciting life can be read in his most delightfully written autobiography, AS I REMEMBER.
Throughout his career, Timoshenko held steadfastly to one goal. This was to further the advancement of mechanics as a science and to promote its application to practical engineering problems. He strove always to bring mathermatical theory and engineering practice into closer harmony. In attaining this goal he had singular success. His scientific papers, which taken collectively represent a monumental contribution to applied mechanics, were always aimed at solving real problems. His world-famous engineering textbooks put the most recent theoretical results into usable form for practising engineers.
As a teacher, he was able to pass on to his students not only knowledge but much of his enthusiasm for mechanics. He was much loved and admired by all of his students and can never be forgotten by those who were fortunate enough to come under his influence.
Stephen Timoshenko really had two careers: one in Russia before the Revolution and one in America after the first world war. Each of these careers divides itself rather naturally into three periods.
The first period in Russia, representing his early childhood and formal education, begins with his birth in 1878 and ends with his graduation from the Institute of Engineers of Ways of Communication in St. Petersburg in 1901. The second, representing his early years as a professor, his graduate study in Germany and the beginnings of his creative scientific work, ended abruptly with dismissal from his university post for political reasons in 1911. The third, covering the years from 1911 to 1922, represent the impact of the Revolution on his life. They represented for him and his family a period of great uncertainty and danger during which they wandered all over Russia, then into Western Europe, and finally to America.
The first period in America finds Timoshenko in the role of research engineer, first in Philadelphia and then with the Westinghouse Company in Pittsburgh. This period extended from 1922 to 1928. The second period (1928-36) constitutes his eight years at the University of Michigan and marks his return to academic life. Without doubt, these years represent the high point of his impact on American engineering education. The third period, which he spent at Stanford University, was the longest in his life. It extended from 1936 until 1965, at which time he returned to Europe to live with his daughter in West Germany. Except for summer trips to Switzerland and one to Russia, he remained there until his death on 29 May, 1972, at the age of 93.
Stephen Timoshenko was a man of high character and great personal charm; it was a privilege to know him. Notwithstanding his complete devotion and dedication to mechanics, he had a wide and varied interest in music, history and literature, and loved to discuss such subjects at length. His grasp of the chronological order and interrelation of historical events made his observations about current affairs most interesting and especially significant. His favourite authors were Tolstoy and Turgenev. He also enjoyed Sinclair Lewis and admired the way in which he could see beneath the surface of the American scene. His favourite pastime was walking and hiking in the mountains, and this activity he continued to enjoy until he was well past his ninetieth year.
Stephen Timoshenko's chief personal characteristics were his generosity and kindness towards those with whom he came in contact. He was always very good to his students and most considerate of their feelings. He never abused them, and if their questions or comments were unduly absurd, the most severe remark that he would make was simply, "I don't understand".
Perhaps the least understood characteristic throughout his years in America was a refusal to adapt to its way of life. In his more than forty years there, he wrought more change in America than America did in him. But, if he did not put down any roots there, he certainly sowed many seeds from which have grown wonderful plants that will bear rich fruit for years to come.
-from the much longer tribute written by E. H Mansfield, F.R.S. and D. H. Young, reproduced in its entirety in the link, "Professor Stephen Timoshenko".
Page 63 / 220