Alexandre Gustave Eiffel

Gustave Eiffel, designer of the Eiffel Tower, was born in Dijon, France in 1832. He graduated from a school of arts in the same year that Paris hosted the first world's Fair. He then founded a company specializing in metal structural work. Some of his other great achievements were the Porto viaduct bridge in 1867 and the wondrous structure of the Statue of Liberty. All these achievements were taken into consideration when he was commissioned to build the Eiffel Tower for the First World's Fair. After completing the Eiffel Tower, Eiffel devoted the rest of his life to a career in science. The tower was originally built to only stand for 20 years. Eiffel pursued research in aerodynamics to build a wind tunnel at the foot of the Tower. He used the Tower as a meteorological observation post and as a giant aerial mast for the new science of radio broadcasting.