Twenty years had passed since Joseph Strauss sat in O'Shaughnessy's office and heard the big red-faced city engineer say, "Why don't you design a bridge for the Golden Gate? Everyone says it can't be done." On May 27, 1937, the Golden Gate Bridge was opened. Joseph Strauss had proved it could be done.

The bridge spanned 4,200 feet of water and was the longest suspension bridge at that time. As a child Strauss had dreamed of doing something that no other man had done. His California bridge was both his ambition and his memorial.

From the book