Hungarian Heritage Review, 1988 (17. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)

1988-06-01 / 6. szám

Special J^eature-ißf-lElie-iHontl] as well as a comprehensive survey of his research and theories together with well-compiled bibliography, are published in his Collected Works. Rhode-St. Genese, Belgium: Von Karman Institute for Fluid Dynamics, 1975. VII, 388 p., illus. Bibliography: pp. 373-385). Miksa Hermann (1868-1944) and Karoly Lang (1877-1938) are considered the architects of the theory and application of rolling. Later their theory was im­proved by Theodore Von Karman. Albert Fono (b. 1881) carried out extensive research on converting heat energy into mechanical energy and was granted the first patent for the propul­sion of an airplane by jet engines. László Verbely (1883-1959) and Ferenc Ratkovszky (1900-1965) bettered to a considerable degree Kandó’s electric locomotive. A. Géza Pattantyús (1885-1956) achieved lasting results in his research in hydrodynamics. In the field of automation, Otto Benedikt (b. 1897) designed the autodyne amplifier whose performance among control apparatus is superb. Antal Kherndl (1842-1919) studied in Budapest and Karlsruhe. Obtaining his diploma in mechanical engineering at the Zurich Polytechnikum, he bacame assistant there to the world-famous Carl Culmann, pro­fessor of statics and founder of graphostatics. Antal Kherndl devoted all his life to statics, evolving a theory of bridge construction and even improving upon Culman’s methods in graphostatics. Kherndl’s assistant, Gyozo Mihailich (1877-1966), and his research associates — especially Karoly Szechy — carrying on Kherndl’s work in bridge construction and excelling in, among other topics, the study of shell construction. In addition to bridge building, Gyozo Mihailich is well-known for his research in reinforced concrete construction. Mihailich contributed many in­novative articles to foreign journals — Beton und Eisen, and Bautechnik, for instance. His book on reinforced concrete structures (Vasbetonszerkezetek. Budapest, 1922) is still regarded an important handbook today. Karoly Szechy (1903-1972) studied civil engineer­ing at the Budapest University of Technical Sciences and in London. Szechy specialized in bridge and tun­nel construction. He prepared the general designs of the Arpad Bridge (Budapest) and directed its construc­tion work. Szechy also directed the reconstruction of the Budapest bridges destroyed during the siege of the capital city at the end of World War II. He also organiz­ed and directed Budapest subway constructions. In 1958 and 1964 Szechy lived in Egypt as guest professor of Cairo University. In 1968 he accepted a guest pro­fessorship at the University of Western Ontario (Canada). With the aid of his co-workers Szechy solv­ed several problems of bridge building as well as of the construction of shell structures. His work on foun­dation errors (Alapozási hibák. Budapest, 1957, 2d ed., 1962) has been translated into English, Russian, Ger­man, Spanish, French and Czech languages, while his book on tunnel construction Alagutepitestan. Budapest, 1961) has appeared in English, French and German. József Petzval (1807, Szepesbela — 1891, Vien­na) received his engineer’s diploma from the Institute of Engineering (Mérnöki Intézet) of Pest University in 1828. Between 1828 and 1835 Petzval was employed as a city engineer of Pest. From 1832 to 1836 he worked as a lecturer and then full professor of mechanics and higher mathematics at Pest University, afterwards ac­cepting a full professorship at Vienna University where he worked until 1877. Petzval invented and constructed in 1840 the double system of lenses which were employed in the Voigtlander cameras. According to a note found in Petzval’s literary legacy, he should be held the inventor of the modern system of anastigmatic lenses. Interestingly enough, the somewhat altered form of the Petzval objective is still used in most modern movie cameras and slide projectors. Around 1860, us­ing a device he himself constructed, Petzval made reliable photogrammetric measurements. His ex­periments are summarized in his following two books: Bericht über die Ergebnisse einiger dioptrischen Unter­suchungen (Pest, 1843), and Bericht über optische und dioptrische Untersuchungen (Sitzungsberichte, Vien­na, 1857). His older brother, Otto (1809-1883), likewise an engineer-mathematician and graduate of Pest University, taught higher mathematics there bet­ween 1858 and 1883. In addition to mathematics Otto Petzval was versed in hydraulic engineering. Odon Riszdorfer (1893-1944), the inventor of a new photographic camera, in October of 1930 in Budapest was granted patent rights to an invention which is the basis of the automatic and semi-automatic exposure control employed in modern cameras. On July 30, 1934, Riszdorfer signed a contract with Eastman Kodak of Rochester (USA) on the manufacture of his semi-automatic camera. This was the Super Kodak Six-20 which has been on the world market since 1938. Mechanical engineer Oszkár Asboth (1891, Pankota — 1960, Budapest) played a prominent role in helicopter research. Having completed his studies between 1909 and 1913, Asboth was engaged in airplane construction at Arad, Szabadka and Wiener- Neustadt. While experimenting with airscrews at the Fischamend experimental institute during World War I he developed the so-called Asboth-airscrews. Pursuant to his experimentation Asboth himself constructed helicopter and as early as September 9, 1928 made —continued next page 16 HUNGARIAN HERITAGE REVIEW JUNE 1988

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