Offers an eye-opening and revealing look into an interpersonal/scientific conflict involving the 'Father of Modern Soil Mechanics' Karl von Terzaghi.

Exempl fies the 'human side' of science in which, sometimes, the prominence of a theorist and the inertia of the 'accepted wisdom' can inhibit progress and rational discussion of the facts.

More than 100 illustrations combine with historical details in the text to evoke a vivid picture of the lost era of pre-WWII Vienna.