Horst Nowacki

Creating Shapes in Civil and Naval Architecture

The design, construction and fabrication of complex two- and three-dimensional shapes in civil and naval architecture have always been a particularly demanding part of the art of engineering. This volume presents a comparative knowledge history in these two distinct branches of construction engineering.

Archimedes and Ship Design

In his written work Archimedes’ primary contributions to ship design were the law of buoyancy and the criterion of stability of a floating object. These laws form the foundations of the floatability and upright stability of ships. How did he create and justify this fundamental knowledge? Might he have applied it to contemporary issues in the ship design of his era? How was this knowledge passed down through the centuries and when and how was it applied to practical ship design decisions? What is the role of Archimedes’ fundamental insights in today’s ship design? This article will address these issues in its three sections on Archimedes’ own contributions, the history of his heritage in the maritime field, and the continuing significance of his physical laws in modern ship design.

The heritage of Archimedes in ship hydrostatics : 2000 years from theories to applications

Archimedes left to posterity his famous treatise “On Floating Bodies”, which establishes the physical foundations for the floatability and stability of ships and other maritime objects. Yet since this treatise was long lost and also simply ignored by practitioners, it took many centuries before Archimedes’ brilliant insights were actually applied in ship design and ship safety assessment. This article traces the tedious acceptance of Archimedes’ principles of hydrostatics and stability in practical applications. It will document important milestones and explain how this knowledge was passed down through the centuries and ultimately spread into ship design practice.