Alberto Castigliano

Alberto Castigliano grew up in poor circumstances. After completing his studies at the newly founded Istituto Industriale, Sezione di Meccanica e Costruzioni in Asti, he obtained an engineering diploma from the Reale Istituto Industriale e Professionale in Turin with the financial support of wealthy citizens. In 1873 he graduated with distinction in civil engineering from the Reale Scuola d’Applicazione degli Ingegneri, despite the difficult circumstances of his life. In the course of a legal dispute with Luigi Federico Menabrea (1809–96), which instigated Castigliano’s diploma thesis Intorno ai sistemi elastici (on elastic systems), he wrote the extensive essay Nuova teoria intorno all’equilibrio dei sistemi elastici (new theory of equilibrium of elastic systems) in 1875, which was to become the core of his main work Théorie de l’Équilibre des Systèmes Élastiques et ses Applications published in 1879. Following his studies, it was not long before he became head of the design office of the Italian Railway Company, where as member of the board of directors he reorganised the pension fund. Unfortunately, he was unable to complete his planned multi-volume Manuale pratico per gli ingegneri (practical manual for engineers) before his death.

Main contributions to structural analysis:

Intorno ai sistemi elastici [1875/1]; Intorno all’equilibrio dei sistemi elastici [1875/2]; Nuova teoria intorno all’equilibrio dei sistemi elastici [1875/3]; Théorie de l’Équilibre des Systèmes Élastiques et ses Applications [1879]; Intorno ad una proprietà dei sistemi elastici [1882]; Theorie des Gleichgewichtes elastischer Systeme und deren Anwendung [1886]; The Theory of Equilibrium of Elastic Systems and its Applications [1966]

Source: Kurrer, Karl-Eugen The History of the Theory of Structures, Wilhelm Ernst & Sohn Verlag für Architektur und technische Wissenschaften GmbH, Berlin (Deutschland), ISBN 3-433-01838-3, 2008; p. 720