The professions of architect and engineer, which had maintained very
close links since the time of the Renaissance, became increasingly
isolated from one another in France during the course of the eighteenth
century, the 'Age of the Enlightenment'. This book analyses the meaning
of this gradual mutual isolation, the consequences of which can still be
felt at a variety of different levels, and offers a unique insight in
English to the teaching and practice of architects such as
Jacques-Francois Blondel and Pierre Patte, and engineers such as
Jean-Rodolphe Perronet and Gaspard-Riche de Prony. The text of the book
is clear and easily comprehensible, and presents a fully accessible
account of this key period in the development of architectural
achievement and debate.