Science: Bridge Builder Modjeski

A great builder of bridges is Ralph Modjeski and honored last week with his sixth scientific medal. But, except for his own stubborn leaning to engineering and his fond mother's indulgence, he might have been a musician or actor. For his mother was the late great tragedienne Helena Modjeska, and he was her only son. He played in the green rooms of Europe while she enacted the rolling romantic tragedies of the 1860s and '70s. In 1876 personal tragedies forced her to go to raw California as a ranch developer. Almost forgotten became her...