This paper deals with the life and work of Nicolas Minorsky, a naval engineer who worked at the crossroad of the worlds of mathematics and engineering. Through his seminal work of 1922, “Directional stability of automatically steered bodies”, we show how Minorsky dealt with the interplay between mathematical knowledge and the steering of ships. During the 1930–40s, he advocated for nonlinear oscillations and stability theories among the academic and naval institutions, with ships conception in mind, and considering they are relevant for engineering problems in general. Minorsky also invented an analog computing device called “Dynamical analog” that remained confidential until recently. This system was conceived, and partially released in 1935, in order to render (compute) qualitative and quantitative information about nonlinear dynamical systems. Facing practical needs and mathematical theories Minorsky is a kind of “ingénieur-savant”. Eventually, we emphasize his epistemology, his vision of the relationships between mathematics, physics and technology, which are very significant in his work and his conception of the “Dynamical analog”.
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