Edward Sang

Prof Edward Sang FRSE FRSSA LLD (30 January 1805 – 23 December 1890) was a Scottish mathematician civil engineer, printer, and publisher.

He was a prolific writer on numerous topics relating to branches of science, engineering, and mathematics. With the help of two of his daughters, he computed large tables of logarithms.

The Wikipedia entry lists many of his published works, which provide an insight into the scale of his investigations.

He developed a mode of defining the courses of skewed masonry bridges which was theoretically superior to widely-used helicoidal arrangement. He first presented his 'logarithmic' proposals in the winter of 1835-6, and published them in 1840 . It was expensive to implement, and found only very limited application in Britain. The following extract from Stang's 1840 Paper explains the basic principle:-

'The stability of a structure is obtained by making the surfaces at which the pressures are communicated perpendicular to the direction of those pressures, and therefore all that is required is to trace on the surface of the centering a line which may cross all the lines of pressure at right angles. In the case of the right arch that line is parallel to the abutment; but in the case of the oblique arch it becomes bent in a peculiar manner.' Sang's Paper then went on to derive the equations needed to define the curves of the joint lines, and hence the dimensions of the masonry blocks.

1842 Estates sequestrated. '...estates of Edward Sang, Civil Engineer, Printer, and Publisher, formerly carrying on business in Edinburgh, now residing in Manchester, were sequestrated...' (Same Edward Sang? In 1841 he did take the role of Professor of Mechanical Science at Manchester New College).

1847 Insolvent. '...Edward Sang, Civil Engineer, Printer and Publisher, formerly carrying on business in Edinburgh, presently abroad...'

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