After numerous injuries I finally got back into the woods, solo hammock backpacking as prescribed. I wanted to spend time thinking about what my next step really should be and what the main reasons for human perseverance are. I also tasked myself with exploring a curiosity of mine that has been brewing since my trip to Europe, why do old buildings still stand today? To quench this curiosity I brought with me an Elon Musk book recommendation called Structures: Or Why Things Don’t Fall Down by J.E. Gordon, a dead Englishman.
High Sierra
The beginning of this trail starts off to a very breathtaking start, within a few miles you are greeted with a view of the entire sequoia lower valley. After 12 miles there is Bear Paw Campsite, there I ran into Cal Poly Ag Staff whom were surprised to see a recent grad out on a weekday. Excuse my cheesy selfie.
Hamilton Lakes
Up maybe 5 miles from the campsite was my primary destination, Hamilton Lakes. This site offered breathtaking views and awesome swimming/tanning (burning). After a day hike and dinner, I decided to call it the next day meaning a long hike home. I woke up at 5 to dear eating my hat, started walking, stumbled upon a mountain lion and two bears (which luckily ran off) and hiked a strong 18 out.
Technology as a Storyteller
I realized many a thing on this trip, one of them being the incredibly influential power of hope and fear, another being the understanding of structures.
I spent more than my trip worth of time reading this book and was happy to finally learn and understand the beauty of some of these insane structures I’d seen in Europe. More importantly I gained an appreciation for the science of building, which in itself is a marvelous storyteller of human history. I’ve always loved learning about the history of man through his many great inventions. It was not until this book that I realized the great science/technology that is materials and structures and elasticity. I learned about stress, strain, tension, compression, strength, stiffness, shear, torsion, cantilever and fixed point beams, trusses, thrust lines, cracks, crumbles, and many other failures. Most importantly I learned about the correlations between man-made and evolutionary-made materials and structures. Lastly, I gained far more appreciation for all the architects and builders out there who continue to push both the theoretical and aesthetic boundaries.
Final Thought
The very last part of this book, whilst reading at the beach, was very dark. The author was writing during a time of little architectural inspiration. He wrote about the duties of an engineer and how efficiency and aesthetics are common day trade-offs when they shouldn’t be. One quote that is pretty un-relevant to structures but relevant to the times is, “Although we may justly accuse modern engineers of philistinism, nearly all of them do cling to certain very important values which are unfashionable and unpopular in a permissive age. The chief of these are objectivity and responsibility. Engineers have to deal, not only with people and all their quirks and weaknesses, but also with physical facts. One can sometimes argue with people, and it is not difficult to deceive them; but it is of no use to argue with a physical fact. One cannot bully it or bribe it or legislate against it or pretend that the truth is something different or that the thing never happened at all. Laymen and politicians may create what fantasies they choose, but, for the engineers, ‘It is their care that the gear engages; it is their care that the switches lock.’ Essentially, these people’s stuff must work, and go on working, safely and economically.” Maybe we should have an engineer for president?