Alexandre Gustave Eiffel was an engineering innovator and a major contributor to 19th century engineering. His place in history is secured by the now-famous Paris landmark, that tapering, modular black wrought iron structure rising almost 1000 feet near the Seine River. Although Eiffel was justifiably proud of his tower, he felt that it cast a long shadow over his career and prevented public and professional appreciation of his larger talents as an engineer and researcher.

“I ought to be jealous of the tower; it is much more famous than I am,” he once said. “People seem to think it is my only work, whereas I have done other things, after all.”