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Rumination of a Reclusive Elastician
By Eli Sternberg
Delivered at the Applied Mechanics Dinner of the 1985 Annual ASME Meeting in Miami Beach, Florida
Ladies and Gentlemen: As you know, medals - much like arthritis - are a common symptom of advancing years. Be this as it may, I am grateful for the recognition implied by this award.
Every medal has a proverbial reverse side. The reverse side of the Timoshenko Medal is the requirement that the recipient must make a speech. In view of my lifelong allergy to after-dinner speeches, the thought of having to give one has been rather unsettling. To make matters worse, I was asked over two months ago to submit a title for my talk.
Since a technical topic seemed inappropriate for the occasion, I tried hard to think of a suitably broad and vacuous subject: something with a sexy title, like "Applied Mechanics - Past, Present, and Future." I abandoned this idea, first, because I always feel a little uneasy in making pronouncements about the future of anything and, second, because I am not sure I know what is meant by "Applied Mechanics".