John Augustus Roebling was a pioneer in American bridge building, not only for his designs, but for the materials and methods he used in their construction. His crowning achievement was New York's Brooklyn Bridge.

Roebling was born in Muhlhausen, Germany, the son of a tobacco shop owner. While visiting Bamberg, Bavaria, Roebling saw a suspension bridge for the first time, fell in love with it, and made a sketch of it. At that moment he decided on a career in bridge building.

Roebling studied engineering and philosophy at the Royal Polytechnic Institute in Berlin, Germany, and graduated in 1826. Four years later he emigrated to the United States to take advantage of the great opportunities that awaited engineers. Upon his arrival, Roebling bought a farm in Pennsylvania, where he waited out the residency requirement for U.S. citizenship. A year after becoming a citizen in 1837, he went to work...