Proface

Humans are known for building some very interesting structures. Regardless of when and what is built, structural engineering has always been a critical part of the process.
Most any introduction to structural engineering will make mention of the pyramids of Egypt and Imhotep. Imhotep is the first engineer to be known by name. He was responsible for building an early pyramid around 2700 B.C. This would have been almost five thousand years ago. So, it is obvious that the ideas of structural engineering have been around for a very long time, but throughout the ancient world and into the medieval period, it was not a formal discipline. The wonder is that the early structural engineers were able to construct such large and impressive structures. They were the craftsman and the master builders.
Men of genius, like Leonardo da Vinci, were able to conceive of many of the designs that would become common in the field of structural engineering long before a true understanding of the scientific principals was reached. There was, certainly, much trial and error in the beginning. We do not know much about the projects that failed, or the collapses that were disasters. We only see the ruins of structures that were properly constructed and endured. The word "structural" comes from the Latin word "structus" that means "to pile, to assemble." This gives a clue to the definition of structural engineering.

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