What is the time scale for the settlement and cracking of an old stone building? How do the elegant flying buttresses of a Gothic cathedral safely transfer thrust to the foundations? And what is the effect of wind on a stone spire, or bell-ringing on a church tower? These and many other questions pertinent to the upkeep of old stone structures are answered in this clear and authoritative guide. With a firm scientific basis, but without the use of complex mathematics, the author provides a thorough and intuitive understanding of masonry structures. The basis of masonry analysis is introduced...

This text introduces the basic equations of the theory of structures. Conventional presentations of these equations follow the ideas of elastic analysis, introduced nearly two hundred years ago. The book is written against the background of advances made in structural theory during the last fifty years, notably by the introduction of so-called plastic theory. The emphasis throughout is on the derivation and application of the structural equations, rather than on details of their solution (nowadays best done by computer), and the numerical examples are deliberately kept simple.