The overall development of steel construction is characterized by the fact that its inception coincides with that of structural theory. Our current knowledge is the result of the lifelong work of a proud series of theorists and practitioners, to name just a few: from Thomas Telford and Louis Navier to Robert Stephenson, Karl Culmann, Heinrich Gerber, Otto Mohr, Friedrich Engesser, Wilhelm Ritter, Josef Melan, and our contemporaries Stephen Timoshenko and Othmar H. Ammann. Much of this work has become common knowledge in everyday construction practice and thus forms the foundation upon which the further development of steel construction is built. The term "foundations of steel construction" is not easily defined. Naturally, structural analysis and strength theory are included, but also mechanics.