Gustave Eiffel Essay Example

risk. Given the risk he faced, he was granted major financial advantages and solid guarantees. Despite the care that Eiffel took in the project, the liquidation of the canal construction company, Compagnie du Canal, on February 4, 1889, led to his own indictment for fraud. Eiffel was sentenced to two years in prison and a fine of 2000 francs, even though nothing could be blamed on him personally. The ruling was later annulled by the highest court of appeals, the Cour de Cassation, liberating him of all obligations concerning the accusations. Still, with his honor and dignity severely compromised, he withdrew from business.

In retirement, following the Panama Canal scandal, Eiffel devoted the final thirty years of his life to a fruitful career in science. First, he set himself to finding a practical application for the Eiffel Tower, which had only been built to stand for twenty years. He employed it in wind resistance experiments, and as a meteorological observation post. Eiffel collected meteorological data at posts installed in various spots on the Tower. He also pursued his research into aerodynamics, building a wind tunnel at the foot of the Tower. Above all, Eiffel employed the Tower as a giant aerial mast for the new science of radio broadcasting. He approached the military with a proposal to make the Tower into a long-distance radio antenna. In 1903 a radio connection was made with military bases around France, and in 1906 a permanent radio station was installed. Eiffel heard the first European public radio broadcast in 1921.

Gustave Eiffel has graced the world with his fine metal work. Even today his structures stand as a reminder of

one of the greatest structural minds of the late 19th century.

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