Current Essay Topics For ICSE

Current Essay Topics For ICSEIn this article I will provide some of the most common current essay topics for ICSE. I will discuss these topics in terms of school grades, college admissions and even how to market yourself once you have started university.Your Essay Paper is Your Ticket to Unpaid Internships - Once you finish your first semester at college or university, one of the things you will be asked to do is write an essay on a topic of your choice. If you want to try your hand at the Foreign Service Institute, Harvard, Penn State or Wharton, you will need to write an essay. So it will be very important that you choose a topic that you think will help you in the quest to get accepted.Essays are great tools that you can use to improve your GPA and make your college applications more efficient. When you are writing an essay, you are often limited by the time that you have to finish a specific task. If you can set a time limit that you can stick to, this can really help you focus y our time on the topic of your choice and also help you get in the flow of your schoolwork.Researching the Essay Topics For ICSE - As you are selecting the topics for your essay, you should consider whether they are right for you. How are you likely to answer the various types of essays? Are you familiar with the essay format?The courses that you take will have a large impact on how successful you will be at the next steps in your college career. Take some time to research the topics that will be given to you and what they mean.The upcoming school year will be very busy for you, so make sure that you take time to find out which topics will be the most suitable for you. Then you can prepare yourself and know which topics you will need to focus on. You will be well prepared if you have already researched and selected the most appropriate essays topics for you.Keep in mind that you should always write the essays on the topic. So when you are writing an essay about history, let's say, th ink about the time period you are talking about and not the event itself. Write from the heart and leave the rest to the teacher or tutor to assess.

The Role Of Gender As A Symbol Of Femininity - 1240 Words

The role of gender was evidently defined before the twentieth century. However, the twentieth century brought a lot of changes to women and their condition, inside and outside the house. Women started getting appreciated in the previously male dominating society. However, this didn’t last for long and by the mid-century men continued their dominating role back in the society. Tennessee Williams wrote this play in the fifties when this change was happening in society. In this play, male dominance is clear. Women were confined to the household and away from the outside world. By analyzing the character of Stanley; a masculine and Stella; a symbol of femininity; and other characters of this play, readers can clearly see how male-dominated world it was. The play portrays Stanley’s masculine character in the very beginning. Williams writes, â€Å"Stanley carries his bowling jacket and a red-stained package from a butcher’s† (Williams 13). He tries to show his dominance by showing his bowling jacket and blood-stained meat packet he was carrying. When Stanley was asking Blanche about Belle Reve, he portrays another example of his dominance, â€Å"You see, under the Napoleonic code – a man has to take an interest in his wife’s affairs – especially now that she’s going to have a baby† (Williams 43). Williams gives another example of male dominance in these quotes when he describes the colors they are wearing, â€Å"Stanley, Steve, Mitch, and Pablo wear colored shirts, solid blues, a purple, aShow MoreRelatedShifting Away From A Traditional Feminine Image Essay927 Words   |  4 Pagesitself, â€Å"I’ve caught him several times looking at the paper!† (35) conveying th at as the narrator becomes more involved with the paper she is regaining her power over the household. Gilman may also be suggesting that this break away from performing roles can manifest shame or uneasiness, Jennie after being caught staring, reacts â€Å"as if she had been caught stealing† (35). She is described as looking â€Å"angry† (35) at the prospect of being caught observing the object of the ‘mad woman’ of the house’s obsessionRead MoreThe Influence Of Gender Identity On Graphic Design1255 Words   |  6 PagesThe influence of gender identity on graphic design The perception of gender and its role of establishing personal identities have dramatically changed in recent years. If design is to continue to play a dynamic and constructive role in society, it stands to reason that it has to reflect these changes to be more fluid and nuanced in its interpretation of gender and how design understands gender. The link between design and gender identity is profound because they are essentially bound to cultureRead More images of gender in the media Essay1234 Words   |  5 Pages Finding a simple or concrete definition of gender maybe near impossible. Gender roles are what men and woman learn and internalize as the way they are supposed to act. These roles are commonly thought of as natural rather than a construction of culture. Gender is thought to flow from sex, rather then being a matter of what the culture does with sex. This theory is widely and exhaustively debated, according to Wood â€Å"Sex is based on biology; Gender is socially and psychologically constructed† (WoodRead MoreImages of Gender in the Media1258 Words   |  6 PagesFinding a simple or concrete definition of gender maybe near impossible. Gender roles are what men and woman learn and internalize as the way they are supposed to act. These roles are commonly thought of as natural rather than a construction of culture. Gender is thought to flow from sex, rather then being a matter of what the culture does with sex. This theory is widely and exhaustively debated, according to Wood Sex is based on biology; Gender is socially and psychologically constructed (WoodRead MoreUnderstanding Gender Identity and Sexuality1083 Words   |  5 Pagesthe terms â€Å"gender† and â€Å"sex† are often used interchangeably, the two words have significantly different definitions. One could argue that sex refers to biological essentialism and the idea that we are who we are because of our genetic material. On the other hand, gender is associated with the social constructionist theory, which argues that the way we are is dependent on our race, class, and sexuality. Because each person is different in their race, class, and sexuality, their gender becomes sociallyRead MoreMaximo Badaro s One Of The Guys : Military Women, Paradoxical Individuality, And The Transformations Essay1509 Words   |   7 Pagesarticle’s main focus is on the how the addition of female soldiers has redefined what it means to be a soldier and how this has changed the military as an institution. He also analyzes the agency available to women in the military and the role their femininity plays in their lives as soldiers. Badarà ³ studied both male and female soldiers of varying ranks in the Argentine Army, most of whom were cadets or young officers at the Colegio Militar de la Nacià ³n (CMN), the only officer academy of the ArgentineRead MoreGender Roles Of The House807 Words   |  4 PagesThe house has at times been a symbol of women’s roles, between 1944 and 1982 the relationship women had with the house changed. This relationship change is indicative to the changing times and the role women played in the house, in the family, and in society. The influences that I believe initiated these changes fall into three themes: 1. The marriage relationship and outside paid work, 2. Educat ion and its impact on femininity, and 3. Technology and its impact on domesticity. The three themes addressRead MoreSummary Of Homosexuality In Kushners Angels In America729 Words   |  3 PagesFemininity is something that can often be overlooked by the authors of any literary piece. During the time of â€Å"Angels in America†, Homosexuality was not something that was as widely noticed, or even respected, during the 1990s, in which the play was written. The play, taking place in Manhattan, New York, being a fairly loud city, homosexuality would generally be something that is not widely accepted. Kushner represented the ups and downs of homosexuality and a character with aids, becoming realisticRead MoreVisual images Reinforce Traditional Gender and Sexuality Stereotypes948 Words   |  4 Pagesreinforce traditional gender and sexuality stereotypes through the manifestation of the masculine and feminine miens. An examination of print media advertisements highlights the soci al and cultural ideologies associated with traditional gender roles that are expected and imposed on by society. â€Å"Advertisements are deeply woven into the fabric of Western Culture, drawing on and reinforcing commonly held perceptions and beliefs† of gender and sexuality stereotypes. They have a strong role in shaping societyRead MoreGender, Social, Spiritual, And Physical Transformation Essay1625 Words   |  7 Pagesdramatically. Most of these anchorites’ gender was not recorded, showing the inapplicability of gender. According to theorist Judith Butler, â€Å"†¦gender can be regarded as a private and public behavioural performance.† Butler also recognizes that gender is a performance of â€Å"acts, gestures, and desire [which] produce the effect of a internal core or substance†¦ that saddest, but never reveal, the organizing principle of identity as a cause.† Due to a shift in gender roles, gender characteristics were abandoned

The Theory Of Light And Its Effects On The Human Eyes

Light, a concept that has been worked with for many years dating back to 500 B.C. Pythagoras hypothesized that humans perceive light due to the human eyes ability to emit rays upon the environment and the emittance gives a human his or her sight (Sekuler). Afterward, human intellectuals started making it more concise to present day knowledge of light. This development of light came from two intellectuals named Christian Huygens and Isaac Newton. Newton exclaimed during the 1700s that light was a stream of particles carrying energy but Huygens, Newton’s contemporary, thought that light needed this invisible â€Å"ether† in order for these streams to make light travel. Then, a couple hundred years later, modern scientists such as Albert Einstein, Thomas Young, and Augustin Fresnel proved Isaac’s and Huygens’ hypotheses of light (Rossing, 23-24). This is how the basis of light was created. With today’s science, light becomes more specifically perceived as a spectrum. The specific name for this spectrum is the electromagnetic spectrum, which contains many types of waves (NASA, Electromagnetic Spectrum). In Figure 2, the spectrum shows a variety of wavelengths with specific wavelengths classified by its length. The range of wavelengths humans can see wavelengths that are around 400 – 700 nanometers (nm) as colors while all other electromagnetic waves are simply blind to humans. The interesting classes for light that are used to measure are microwave and infrared light. The laser isShow MoreRelatedThe Eye : A View Into Sight980 Words   |  4 PagesThe Eye: A view into Sight Sight a gift that we can t take for granted, our eyes are the windows to the all we know and love, experience and discover, ponder and cherish. Let’s peer into the unique and self-sustaining workings of the eye. The reflected light off the world enters into the crystalline transparency of the cornea, aqueous humor, lens, and vitreous humor, to project onto the photo receptors, known as rods and cones, of the retina, from which impulses converge onto the optic nerve, andRead MoreGeorge Lucas film Star Wars Essay1114 Words   |  5 PagesGeorge Lucas film Star Wars There are many different theories to Star Wars, which attracted millions of viewers. These theories made Star Wars what it was, and to some people still is. Made in1977, it was the first of its kind by being new, using aliens and special effects, Star Wars created a large audience. Then it was re-released twenty years later, after improvement in special effects and another character was added. I will be considering that Star Wars appealsRead MoreWhy Is It Important? Essay1019 Words   |  5 PagesIt depicts an effect without a cause, depicting circularity, a cause that is self causing. A theory similar to this application would be the Big Bang theory, proposed in the 1930’s- 1940’s by fred boyle, a professor of astro-physics. It established that the universe in itself began upon nothing. Hence, an effect without a cause. The existence of god, according to Hume, is an example of a theory in which nothing came from nothing. Another flaw would be infinite regress, every effect is cause of anotherRead MoreEssay about Black Holes1025 Words   |  5 Pages Black Holes Within our galaxy alone, there are millions upon millions of stars. Within our universe, there are millions upon millions of galaxies. Humans have known the existance of stars since they have had eyes. Although interpretations may have differed on what they were, they were always thought of as white glowing specks in the sky, but the mystery does not lie within what we can see, but what we can not see. There are billions of stars lighting the darkness of our universe, but the questionRead More Leonardo Da Vinci Essay1729 Words   |  7 Pagesand his scientific studies--particularly in the fields of anatomy, optics, and hydraulics--anticipated many of the developments of modern science. His amazing powers of observation and skill as an illustrator enabled him to notice and recreate the effects he saw in nature, and added a special liveliness to his portraits. Curious as well as observant, he constantly tried to explain what he saw, and described many experiments to test his ideas. Be cause he wrote down and sketched so many of his observationsRead MoreThe Effect Of Exercise On A Persons Mood1547 Words   |  7 PagesQuestion 1.) When trying to gather data on a testable subject there are usually many different possible ways to approach it. When talking about the effects of exercise on a person’s mood this is also the case. An experiment could be conducted to see what your mood does with and without exercise. You would have a group of people all experiencing the same conditions. They would eat the same foods, sleep the same amount and have all the same factors in their daily routines. Then you would have halfRead MoreMovie Analysis : Watch This On Nov Essay1191 Words   |  5 Pagescreate mind-bending sensory illusions, Hollywood filmmakers use color, light, motion, depth and sound to hack human brain. Just as movies use image and sound to create illusions of reality, our own senses can be forced into thinking we hear or feel things that don’t ex ist. It’s an episode that will reveal the inner workings, although diminutive, but it holds the entire being of a human – THE BRAIN. Illusions test the limits of human perception captivate audiences. Brain Games: â€Å"Watch This† is a showRead MoreAlbert Einstein Essay1119 Words   |  5 PagesAlbert Einstein Einstein, Albert (1879-1955), was one of the greatest scientists of all time. He is best known for his theory of relativity, which he first advanced when he was only 26. He also made many other contributions to science. Einsteins relativity theory revolutionized scientific thought with new conceptions of time, space, mass, motion, and gravitation. He treated matter and energy as exchangeable, not distinct. In so doing, he laid the basis for controlling the release of energyRead MoreEssay about Sfudying Graphics, Messages, and Symbols922 Words   |  4 PagesTo study what makes graphics and text become messages, we have to study symbols; Symbols are human made products or behaviors, which can deliver meanings to people. Codes are systems which define the relations between symbols, and the working relations between symbols and symbols are semiotics. Semiotics is a culture research tool; it has some difference between the traditional critic ways. The traditional critic ways talk about the inner interpretation of the meanings of text but semiotics talksRead MoreAllegory of the Cave Essay 71404 Words   |  6 Pageshis views on human existence and the reality of things. Everyone has a different reality and a way that they perceive things but other factors like the media influence and persuade us. The media has the power through the radio, television, or other technologies to tell us things that might not even be true but we have to believe them because we don’t know what is true. The media even hides the truth in the news, has the ability to persuade us to believe something, and influences human existence.

Pantheon Essay Thesis Example For Students

Pantheon Essay Thesis Introduction I chose to report on the pantheon because Ive seen pictures and I am also very fascinated by all the Roman monuments. I looked all around the internet and libraries. The Pantheon was very hard to find information about. It was very challenging but I found enough information to complete this report. This famous building stands in the business district of Romemuch as it was built some 18 centuries ago. Amazingly, it has withstood the ravages of both the elements and war permitting a firsthand view of a unique product constructed by Roman hands. Now, it is exposed to acid rain and fumes from passing automobiles and overshadowed by buildings of inferior taste; but, with trust in the future, the Pantheon will survive. Unrecognized, the design of this ancient concrete building reveals unparalleled features not encountered in modern design standards. Recent studies reveal several major cracks in the dome, but it still functions unimpaired. This condition will surely excite the curiosity of our structural engineers. The building was built entirely without steel reinforcing rods to resist tensile cracking, so necessary in concrete members, and for this concrete dome with a long span to last centuries is incredible. Today, no engineer would dare build this structure without steel rods! Modern codes of engineering practice would not permit such mischief. No investor with knowledge of concrete design would provide the funding. Additional constraints when attempting to build a structure as large as the Pantheon will be discussed later, but briefly they include the use of inadequate hand tools and unsafe lifting devices. I believe we can learn from this activity. Workers can build from a plan and can successfully use their proven practices only if construction quality controls are maintained. History tells us that the Pantheon is a Greek word meaning to honor all Gods (particularly the Olympian divinities). It is ironic that our building has existed throughout m any wars while being dedicated to all Gods; one can readily perceive this to be a temple for our one God. And, the Church has claimed this holy structure as a resting place for its most famous Popes, so we continue to honor its magnificent divinity. The first incarnation of this ancient temple was built by Agrippa, the son-in-law of the Roman Emperor Augustus, about 27 B.C. Today, above the entrance carved in stone are the words M. AGRIPPA L. F. COS. TERTIUM FECIT which is translated, Marcus Agrippa, son of Lucius, in his third consulate, made it. Indeed, it is worth mentioning that Agrippas engineering talents were used in building the famous Pont de Gard aqueduct in France. As with many cities, tragedy in the form of large fires such as those of 60, 64, 79, 100 and 110 A.D. seemed to strike Rome. Originally, many Roman buildings contained travertine (limestone rock) which easily cracked in fires. The first Pantheon was severely damaged and required replacement except for some part s of the lower porch section and foundation. The Pantheon was rebuilt by the Emperor Hadrian during the period 118 to 128 A.D. (a time given by Ward-Perkins).2 But the Ward-Perkinss period is disputed by, Lugli who said the building was started sometime after 123 A.D. and was finished by Emperor Pius about 140 A.D.3 However, most of the bricks were made and placed in the Pantheon in 123 A.D., a date that the maker stamped on his bricks. This was discovered in 1892 by the French archaeologist, George Chedanne. It appears the construction of the rotunda walls took a period of 4 to 5 years, and the dome required a like period because of its height and the meager tools the Romans used. This long construction period was fortunate as it gave this pozzolan concrete ample time to cure and gain strength. Was the second temple like the first? Yes, the fundamental principle of the old Roman religion required that the temples be rebuilt without changes in original form. Tradition required that the main entrance face north, and thus the whole building was oriented on the north-south axis of the building. A description of its structural features is separated into the configuration, foundation ring, circular walls, and dome to more clearly define various components. How these pieces are unique in view of todays design requirements will be discussed shortly. Body The Pantheon is one of the great spiritual buildings of the world. It was built as a Roman temple and later consecrated as a Catholic Church. Its monumental porch originally faced a rectangular colonnaded temple courtyard and now enfronts the smaller Piazza della Rotonda. Through great bronze doors, one enters one great circular room. The interior volume is a cylinder above which rises the hemispherical dome. Opposite the door is a recessed semicircular apse, and on each side re three additional recesses, alternately rectangular and semicircular, separated from the space under the dome by paired monolithic columns. T he only natural light enters through an unglazed oculus at the center of the dome and through the bronze doors to the portico. As the sun moves, striking patterns of light illuminate the walls and floors of porphyry, granite and yellow marbles. Inside the Pantheon The building design is one of a large round shape very much like a large barrel with a dome covering the top. There is a light-well in the center of the dome. Layers of beautiful thin brickwork cover the outside, round walls. Small access holes appear occasionally in the wall which were used during construction to frame interior voids. The main entrance is thoroughly impressive: double bronze doors 21 feet high (6.4 meters), a lasting and fitting contribution from their metal smiths. These doors are protected by a high, broad porch, made with 16 well arranged granite columns supporting a gable styled roof. The beams in the roof structure of the porch are wooden. They were substituted for bronze members stripped-out by thos e in later years needing metal for their canons. Professional Roman surveyors located the inlaid marble floor to conform with a convex contour which drained away the rain from the oculus for these hundreds of years. In the following descriptions, some general dimensions are given to indicate the magnitude of this undertaking by the Romans. The rotunda has a rather awesome inner diameter of 142.4 feet (43.4 m), made mostly of concrete. Comparatively speaking, this distance represents about one half the length of our football field. And from the floor to the top of the opening in the dome is the same distance. As a matter of fact, we could think of the design of this building as one that could contain a theoretical ball some 143 feet in diameter. The design is not entirely unusual because there are other Roman buildings which have a similar configuration, but the size is unusual. Other buildings such as the Temple of Mercury (71 feet/21.5 m diameter) at Baiae and Domitian Nympheaum at Albano (51 feet/15.6 m diameter) have domes of this type. The Pantheon still has the longest span constructed before the 19th Century. To provide details on this complex configuration, the following figures show the building with its two-ring foundation, voids in the walls, and the step-ring and coffer arrangement in the dome. Foundation The Pantheon was built on marshy, unstable earth which gave a serious supporting problem to its builders. The Jutland Archaeological Society described in detail various aspects of the ring foundation; they found it rested on a bed of bluish colored river clay.8 This condition invited disaster, and in the final construction phase, the foundation cracked at the two ends of the North-South axis. If one section of a building settles slightly faster and lower than an adjacent section, very large bending stresses are initiated at a point between these two sections which can crack the concrete. And uneven settling was the problem given to the builders. Th e present-day engineering solution to this type of foundation problem is to drive piles through the clay to bedrock so the building will be firmly supported all the way around. The Roman builders chose a different approach. They built a second ring to hold the first ring from cracking further and to give the clay more area to support the structure. It worked because the building has lasted over 1800 years. In addition to keeping the crack from extending, the builders placed buttress walls on the south side opposite the massive porch. This acted as a clampng device; and although the structural projection appears to be an additional room, it only serves the purpose of being part of the clamp. These rings are made of pozzolan concrete consisting of travertine pieces in layers held together by a mortar of lime and pozzolan. This will be discussed later in this work. Interestingly enough, the Jutland Societys investigation showed the foundation material had become rock hard,11 a case we might expect when we study the chemistry of pozzolanic reaction under these conditions. How It Stands up The challenge of determining stresses within various sections of the Pantheon has always excited both architects and engineers who are interested in the building. Technical design people recognized that the long 143 foot span of the ancient dome could have critical stress concentrations leading to a catastrophic failure of the structure, but this has not happened. Nothing in life seems perfect, and this is the case with the Pantheon. The dome and walls have cracked. Concrete cracks under excessive tensile stress as viewed in a hoop condition. A. Terenzio, an Italian superintendent of monuments, documented cracking in the walls and dome duringhis inspection of the Pantheon in 1930. Terenzio identifies fractures `reaching from the base of the rotunda to the summit of the dome that he thought were brought about by differential settlement from uneven loading of the wall, particularly near the entrance of the rotunda in the principal niche. Rather than finding vertical differential settlement, we have observed only traces of lateral opening across the cracks corresponding to the effect of hoop tension. Terenzio believed cracking occurred shortly after construction because of dated brick repairs. The Mark and Hutchinson study showed that meridional cracking in the dome was in the lower half extending up to about 57 degrees from the horizontal on the spring line. An earlier stress analysis of this dome by Cowan theoretically placed this point at 37 degrees 36. This is the point where hoop stresses in the dome change from tension to compression presenting a point of weakness within the unreinforced concrete dome. This theoretical point is in reasonable agreement with the actual end of meridional cracking. The Mark and Hutchinson study located the cracks as occurring generally at the openings within the upper cylindrical wall which increased local tensile hoop stres ses. In addition to dome, Terenzio mentioned that cracks in the walls extended upward from 24.6 feet (7.5 m) above the floor. The cracking pattern of the concrete in the Pantheon provides an unique stress configuration acting in the dome and walls. Mark and Hutchinson describe this picture as one in which the major internal forces in the cracked dome are only in the meridional direction, and this region serves as a series of arches which bears a common compression keystone in the form of the uncracked upper dome. The cracked walls serve as a series of independent piers to support these arches. Perhaps as insurance against som future dislocation, should we add a steel band around a step-ring? Although the building has survived centuries, this valuable, cracked landmark of Roman history should be protected against future earthquakes at a small cost. Conclusion As you can tell the Pantheon was a great structure created by the Romans. I believe it has played a great role in Greek histor y. Even though this building is unpopular to many people, but this report proves that it is one of the greatest and most historical man made creation. BibliographyEncarta 95 Encyclopedia H. W. Cowan, The Master Builders. John Wiley and Son, New York, 1977 Http://www.broyan/sor/index.pa-pr/Pantheon.html- Programmer: Jack M. Loudel BibliographyIntroduction I chose to report on the pantheon because Ive seen pictures and I am also very fascinated by all the Roman monuments. I looked all around the internet and libraries. The Pantheon was very hard to find information about. It was very challenging but I found enough information to complete this report. This famous building stands in the business district of Romemuch as it was built some 18 centuries ago. Amazingly, it has withstood the ravages of both the elements and war permitting a firsthand view of a unique product constructed by Roman hands. Now, it is exposed to acid rain and fumes from passing automobiles and overshadowed by buil dings of inferior taste; but, with trust in the future, the Pantheon will survive. Unrecognized, the design of this ancient concrete building reveals unparalleled features not encountered in modern design standards. Recent studies reveal several major cracks in the dome, but it still functions unimpaired. This condition will surely excite the curiosity of our structural engineers. The building was built entirely without steel reinforcing rods to resist tensile cracking, so necessary in concrete members, and for this concrete dome with a long span to last centuries is incredible. Today, no engineer would dare build this structure without steel rods! Modern codes of engineering practice would not permit such mischief. No investor with knowledge of concrete design would provide the funding. Additional constraints when attempting to build a structure as large as the Pantheon will be discussed later, but briefly they include the use of inadequate hand tools and unsafe lifting devices. I believe we can learn from this activity. Workers can build from a plan and can successfully use their proven practices only if construction quality controls are maintained. History tells us that the Pantheon is a Greek word meaning to honor all Gods (particularly the Olympian divinities). It is ironic that our building has existed throughout many wars while being dedicated to all Gods; one can readily perceive this to be a temple for our one God. And, the Church has claimed this holy structure as a resting place for its most famous Popes, so we continue to honor its magnificent divinity. The first incarnation of this ancient temple was built by Agrippa, the son-in-law of the Roman Emperor Augustus, about 27 B.C. Today, above the entrance carved in stone are the words M. AGRIPPA L. F. COS. TERTIUM FECIT which is translated, Marcus Agrippa, son of Lucius, in his third consulate, made it. Indeed, it is worth mentioning that Agrippas engineering talents were used in building the famous Pont de Gard aqueduct in France. As with many cities, tragedy in the form of large fires such as those of 60, 64, 79, 100 and 110 A.D. seemed to strike Rome. Originally, many Roman buildings contained travertine (limestone rock) which easily cracked in fires. The first Pantheon was severely damaged and required replacement except for some parts of the lower porch section and foundation. The Pantheon was rebuilt by the Emperor Hadrian during the period 118 to 128 A.D. (a time given by Ward-Perkins).2 But the Ward-Perkinss period is disputed by, Lugli who said the building was started sometime after 123 A.D. and was finished by Emperor Pius about 140 A.D.3 However, most of the bricks were made and placed in the Pantheon in 123 A.D., a date that the maker stamped on his bricks. This was discovered in 1892 by the French archaeologist, George Chedanne. It appears the construction of the rotunda walls took a period of 4 to 5 years, and the dome required a like period because of its height and the meager tools the Romans used. This long construction period was fortunate as it gave this pozzolan concrete ample time to cure and gain strength. Was the second temple like the first? Yes, the fundamental principle of the old Roman religion required that the temples be rebuilt without changes in original form. Tradition required that the main entrance face north, and thus the whole building was oriented on the north-south axis of the building. A description of its structural features is separated into the configuration, foundation ring, circular walls, and dome to more clearly define various components. How these pieces are unique in view of todays design requirements will be discussed shortly. Body The Pantheon is one of the great spiritual buildings of the world. It was built as a Roman temple and later consecrated as a Catholic Church. Its monumental porch originally faced a rectangular colonnaded temple courtyard and now enfronts the smaller Piazza della Rotonda. Throug h great bronze doors, one enters one great circular room. The interior volume is a cylinder above which rises the hemispherical dome. Opposite the door is a recessed semicircular apse, and on each side re three additional recesses, alternately rectangular and semicircular, separated from the space under the dome by paired monolithic columns. The only natural light enters through an unglazed oculus at the center of the dome and through the bronze doors to the portico. As the sun moves, striking patterns of light illuminate the walls and floors of porphyry, granite and yellow marbles. Inside the Pantheon The building design is one of a large round shape very much like a large barrel with a dome covering the top. There is a light-well in the center of the dome. Layers of beautiful thin brickwork cover the outside, round walls. Small access holes appear occasionally in the wall which were used during construction to frame interior voids. The main entrance is thoroughly impressive: doubl e bronze doors 21 feet high (6.4 meters), a lasting and fitting contribution from their metal smiths. These doors are protected by a high, broad porch, made with 16 well arranged granite columns supporting a gable styled roof. The beams in the roof structure of the porch are wooden. They were substituted for bronze members stripped-out by those in later years needing metal for their canons. Professional Roman surveyors located the inlaid marble floor to conform with a convex contour which drained away the rain from the oculus for these hundreds of years. In the following descriptions, some general dimensions are given to indicate the magnitude of this undertaking by the Romans. The rotunda has a rather awesome inner diameter of 142.4 feet (43.4 m), made mostly of concrete. Comparatively speaking, this distance represents about one half the length of our football field. And from the floor to the top of the opening in the dome is the same distance. As a matter of fact, we could think of the design of this building as one that could contain a theoretical ball some 143 feet in diameter. The design is not entirely unusual because there are other Roman buildings which have a similar configuration, but the size is unusual. Other buildings such as the Temple of Mercury (71 feet/21.5 m diameter) at Baiae and Domitian Nympheaum at Albano (51 feet/15.6 m diameter) have domes of this type. The Pantheon still has the longest span constructed before the 19th Century. To provide details on this complex configuration, the following figures show the building with its two-ring foundation, voids in the walls, and the step-ring and coffer arrangement in the dome. Foundation The Pantheon was built on marshy, unstable earth which gave a serious supporting problem to its builders. The Jutland Archaeological Society described in detail various aspects of the ring foundation; they found it rested on a bed of bluish colored river clay.8 This condition invited disaster, and in the final construction phase, the foundation cracked at the two ends of the North-South axis. If one section of a building settles slightly faster and lower than an adjacent section, very large bending stresses are initiated at a point between these two sections which can crack the concrete. And uneven settling was the problem given to the builders. The present-day engineering solution to this type of foundation problem is to drive piles through the clay to bedrock so the building will be firmly supported all the way around. The Roman builders chose a different approach. They built a second ring to hold the first ring from cracking further and to give the clay more area to support the structure. It worked because the building has lasted over 1800 years. In addition to keeping the crack from extending, the builders placed buttress walls on the south side opposite the massive porch. This acted as a clampng device; and although the structural projection appears to be an additional room, it only serves the purpose of being part of the clamp. These rings are made of pozzolan concrete consisting of travertine pieces in layers held together by a mortar of lime and pozzolan. This will be discussed later in this work. Interestingly enough, the Jutland Societys investigation showed the foundation material had become rock hard,11 a case we might expect when we study the chemistry of pozzolanic reaction under these conditions. How It Stands up The challenge of determining stresses within various sections of the Pantheon has always excited both architects and engineers who are interested in the building. Technical design people recognized that the long 143 foot span of the ancient dome could have critical stress concentrations leading to a catastrophic failure of the structure, but this has not happened. Nothing in life seems perfect, and this is the case with the Pantheon. The dome and walls have cracked. Concrete cracks under excessive tensile stress as viewed in a hoop condition . A. Terenzio, an Italian superintendent of monuments, documented cracking in the walls and dome duringhis inspection of the Pantheon in 1930. Terenzio identifies fractures `reaching from the base of the rotunda to the summit of the dome that he thought were brought about by differential settlement from uneven loading of the wall, particularly near the entrance of the rotunda in the principal niche. Rather than finding vertical differential settlement, we have observed only traces of lateral opening across the cracks corresponding to the effect of hoop tension. Terenzio believed cracking occurred shortly after construction because of dated brick repairs. The Mark and Hutchinson study showed that meridional cracking in the dome was in the lower half extending up to about 57 degrees from the horizontal on the spring line. An earlier stress analysis of this dome by Cowan theoretically placed this point at 37 degrees 36. This is the point where hoop stresses in the dome change from tens ion to compression presenting a point of weakness within the unreinforced concrete dome. This theoretical point is in reasonable agreement with the actual end of meridional cracking. The Mark and Hutchinson study located the cracks as occurring generally at the openings within the upper cylindrical wall which increased local tensile hoop stresses. In addition to dome, Terenzio mentioned that cracks in the walls extended upward from 24.6 feet (7.5 m) above the floor. The cracking pattern of the concrete in the Pantheon provides an unique stress configuration acting in the dome and walls. Mark and Hutchinson describe this picture as one in which the major internal forces in the cracked dome are only in the meridional direction, and this region serves as a series of arches which bears a common compression keystone in the form of the uncracked upper dome. The cracked walls serve as a series of independent piers to support these arches. Perhaps as insurance against som future dislocation , should we add a steel band around a step-ring? Although the building has survived centuries, this valuable, cracked landmark of Roman history should be protected against future earthquakes at a small cost. Conclusion As you can tell the Pantheon was a great structure created by the Romans. I believe it has played a great role in Greek history. Even though this building is unpopular to many people, but this report proves that it is one of the greatest and most historical man made creation. BibliographyEncarta 95 Encyclopedia H. W. Cowan, The Master Builders. John Wiley and Son, New York, 1977 Http://www.broyan/sor/index.pa-pr/Pantheon.html- Programmer: Jack M. Loudel sample letter Essay