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- Born:
- Feb. 26, 1789, Anderton, Cheshire, Eng.
- Died:
- June 18, 1861, Higher Broughton, near Manchester (aged 72)
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Eaton Hodgkinson
English mathematician and civil engineer
Eaton Hodgkinson (born Feb. 26, 1789, Anderton, Cheshire, Eng.—died June 18, 1861, Higher Broughton, near Manchester) was an English mathematician and civil engineer. From 1847, he taught at University College in London. He researched the strength of materials, including cast iron and developed a concept for determining the neutral line (where stress changes from tension to compression) in a beam subject to bending. His work led to experiments in materials strength to determine the strongest construction beam and to the eventual design of the I-beam, also known as the “Hodgkinson’s beam.”
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