"Ralph B. Peck,
Educator and Engineer - The Essence of the Man".
by John Dunnicliff and Nancy Peck Young
Educator and Engineer - The Essence of the Man".
by John Dunnicliff and Nancy Peck Young
| New Book |
About this Book
The idea for this book about Ralph Peck arose in March 2004. John
and Ralph were in England attending “Advances in Geotechnical
Engineering: The Skempton Conference” in honor of Sir Alec
Skempton, long-term professor at Imperial College, London. Ralph
was accompanied by his daughter, Nancy, and her husband, Allen.
During the conference Judith Niechcial, Skem’s daughter, made a
presentation about her biography of her father. After the conference
John said to Nancy, “Why don’t you write a biography of your
father?” And so it began and, as you can see, it has evolved
into so much more. Along the way we’ve exchanged multitudes of e-
mails and have met in Florida and Greece to brainstorm. We’ve
acted as “project managers” as well as editors. It has been an
exciting project.
There have been three previous books in honor of Ralph Peck:
Judgment in Geotechnical Engineering, the Professional Legacy of Ralph
B. Peck; The Art and Science of Geotechnical Engineering at the Dawn
of the Twenty-First Century. A Volume Honoring Ralph B. Peckand Ralph
B. Peck. Engineer, Educator, Man of Judgment. Where we refer to the
first of these three books, we will use the abbreviation ‘Judgment’.
Part of the title of this book was inspired by Ralph Peck’s words on
the back cover of Dick Goodman’s masterful book about Karl
Terzaghi: “Although I knew Terzaghi well, I did not fully appreciate
the personal struggles or the genius of the man until I read
Goodman’s manuscript … Goodman has caught the essence of the
man”.
To repeat the words that John wrote for the preface to Judgment,
“Ralph Peck’s profound influence on the geotechnical engineering
profession is well known to his colleagues. To his former students
he is a gifted teacher and a model for their own professional
practices. To his co-workers he is a man with outstanding ability to
reach the heart of a problem and communicate its solution.” To his
friends and family, he is a modest, unassuming man whose well
chosen words are always worth listening to, and whose quick sense
of humor is invariably present.
We have leaned towards an informal flavor for this book. Therefore,
rather than using “Dr.” or “Professor Peck”, we refer to him as
“Ralph”, “RBP” or “Dad.”
The book is divided into six Parts.
Part 1, Self Portrait, is a transcript of a series of tape recordings
and dictations made by Ralph during several months in 2004 and
2005.
Part 2, Words of Wisdom, was first published in NGI 2007. The
words were selected by Elmo DiBiagio and Kaare Flaate, who “took
a journey through some of Ralph’s publications, looking for words of
wisdom”.
Part 3, Selected Professional Papers and Lectures, includes about
30 of Ralph’s professional publications. In making the selection, we
used the same approach as used for Judgment. We began with his
“philosophical” publications: Ralph calls them his “sermons.” We
then broadened our scope to include some of his long-term
interests: the tradition and history of the geotechnical profession;
nature and the environment; case histories; embankment dams;
and observation and instrumentation. A section of memorial tributes
is also included. The result is a grouping of publications in six
sections. These sections include transcripts of Question and Answer
sessions with Ralph, intended to give backgrounds to many of the
publications. We recognize that there is some duplication between
Parts 1 and 3, but we have chosen to retain it so that flow is
maintained.
Part 4, Vignettes, contains invited contributions by colleagues,
family, and friends who have known him or worked with him over
the years.
Part 5, Selected Awards.
Part 6, List of Publications.
We sincerely hope that people from all audiences, whether
engineering colleagues, students, faculty members, friends, or just
people who enjoy reading about an interesting life, will enjoy this
book.
Product Details
Hardcover: 350 pages
Publisher: BiTech Publishers Ltd, Vancouver
ISBN: 0-921095-63-5
Product Dimensions: 8 1/2” x 11”
The idea for this book about Ralph Peck arose in March 2004. John
and Ralph were in England attending “Advances in Geotechnical
Engineering: The Skempton Conference” in honor of Sir Alec
Skempton, long-term professor at Imperial College, London. Ralph
was accompanied by his daughter, Nancy, and her husband, Allen.
During the conference Judith Niechcial, Skem’s daughter, made a
presentation about her biography of her father. After the conference
John said to Nancy, “Why don’t you write a biography of your
father?” And so it began and, as you can see, it has evolved
into so much more. Along the way we’ve exchanged multitudes of e-
mails and have met in Florida and Greece to brainstorm. We’ve
acted as “project managers” as well as editors. It has been an
exciting project.
There have been three previous books in honor of Ralph Peck:
Judgment in Geotechnical Engineering, the Professional Legacy of Ralph
B. Peck; The Art and Science of Geotechnical Engineering at the Dawn
of the Twenty-First Century. A Volume Honoring Ralph B. Peckand Ralph
B. Peck. Engineer, Educator, Man of Judgment. Where we refer to the
first of these three books, we will use the abbreviation ‘Judgment’.
Part of the title of this book was inspired by Ralph Peck’s words on
the back cover of Dick Goodman’s masterful book about Karl
Terzaghi: “Although I knew Terzaghi well, I did not fully appreciate
the personal struggles or the genius of the man until I read
Goodman’s manuscript … Goodman has caught the essence of the
man”.
To repeat the words that John wrote for the preface to Judgment,
“Ralph Peck’s profound influence on the geotechnical engineering
profession is well known to his colleagues. To his former students
he is a gifted teacher and a model for their own professional
practices. To his co-workers he is a man with outstanding ability to
reach the heart of a problem and communicate its solution.” To his
friends and family, he is a modest, unassuming man whose well
chosen words are always worth listening to, and whose quick sense
of humor is invariably present.
We have leaned towards an informal flavor for this book. Therefore,
rather than using “Dr.” or “Professor Peck”, we refer to him as
“Ralph”, “RBP” or “Dad.”
The book is divided into six Parts.
Part 1, Self Portrait, is a transcript of a series of tape recordings
and dictations made by Ralph during several months in 2004 and
2005.
Part 2, Words of Wisdom, was first published in NGI 2007. The
words were selected by Elmo DiBiagio and Kaare Flaate, who “took
a journey through some of Ralph’s publications, looking for words of
wisdom”.
Part 3, Selected Professional Papers and Lectures, includes about
30 of Ralph’s professional publications. In making the selection, we
used the same approach as used for Judgment. We began with his
“philosophical” publications: Ralph calls them his “sermons.” We
then broadened our scope to include some of his long-term
interests: the tradition and history of the geotechnical profession;
nature and the environment; case histories; embankment dams;
and observation and instrumentation. A section of memorial tributes
is also included. The result is a grouping of publications in six
sections. These sections include transcripts of Question and Answer
sessions with Ralph, intended to give backgrounds to many of the
publications. We recognize that there is some duplication between
Parts 1 and 3, but we have chosen to retain it so that flow is
maintained.
Part 4, Vignettes, contains invited contributions by colleagues,
family, and friends who have known him or worked with him over
the years.
Part 5, Selected Awards.
Part 6, List of Publications.
We sincerely hope that people from all audiences, whether
engineering colleagues, students, faculty members, friends, or just
people who enjoy reading about an interesting life, will enjoy this
book.
Product Details
Hardcover: 350 pages
Publisher: BiTech Publishers Ltd, Vancouver
ISBN: 0-921095-63-5
Product Dimensions: 8 1/2” x 11”
| John Dunnicliff Nancy Peck Young Devon, England Albuquerque, New Mexico June 2006 |
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