Augustus Love

“All you need is love” is the title of the famous song by the Beatles recorded in 1967. “All you need is Love” was Koiter's title for his contributions to the linear theory of thin shells. (E. Ramm and W. A. Wall have devised an approachable, easy-to-understand summary of modern shell theory [Ramm & Wall, 2004].) Koiter's use of the capital “L” for Love shows that he means not love in general, but rather A. E. H. Love and his shell theory [Love, 1888]. Who was A. E. H. Love? He was the second-eldest son of a dentist, John Henry Love, and attended Wolverhampton Grammar School, where he benefited from the mathematics lessons of the Rev. Henry Williams and, following his scholarship examination in 1881, was awarded a scholarship for St. John's College. He began his studies there in 1882 and finally gained distinction in 1885 as second wrangler of parts I and II of the Mathematics Tripos. One year later, Love became a fellow of St. John's College and in 1887 was awarded the Smith Prize, the highest accolade for mathematics at the University of Cambridge. His famous shell theory was published just one year later [Love, 1888] and triggered a scientific controversy with Lord Rayleigh and others (see [Calladine, 1988, pp. 4 & 5]). Love wrote his two-volume work on mathematical elastic theory in 1892 and 1893 [Love, 1892/1893], which compiled the knowledge of this branch of science up until the end of the 19th century in a synthesis hitherto unsurpassed. The second edition [Love, 1906] was translated into German ove[L, 1907] and formed the scientific system of coordinates for the Göttingen school around Felix Klein in the field of elastic theory. Even today, the “historical introduction” to his work on elastic theory is still an excellent record of the historical study of the exact sciences. Love was elected a fellow of the Royal Society at the age of 30 and in 1899 was appointed to the Sedleian chair of natural philosophy at the University of Oxford, a post he held until his death. His monograph on geodynamics [Love, 1911] remains among the classic works on geophysics, seismology, foundation engineering dynamics and earthquake engineering. It was in this book that he developed a mathematical model for the surface wave which bears his name and which during earthquakes leads to horizontal ground movements perpendicular to the direction of propagation of the waves and which cause the greatest destruction. Love's work on elastic theory played a major role during the consolation period of structural theory, or rather structural mechanics (1900–50), especially in the formation of the theory of plate and shell structures. 

Main contributions to structural analysis:

The small free vibrations and deformation of a thin elastic shell [1888]; A treatise on the mathematical theory of elasticity [1892/1893 & 1906]; Lehrbuch der Elastizität [1907]; Some problems of geodynamics [1911] 

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. 745