On Tuesday 25th Feb 2020 we had  a fascinating talk by John Barrie-Smith about  the various applications of Leonardo da Vinci’s  design for a bridge. We watch him make a 6m long bridge in ten minutes without nails, bolts or screws.   The talk also considered other applications of this ingenious mechanical design, including garden furniture and workbenches.

Leonardo originally proposed a bridge 366 m (1,201 ft) long, overall and 24 m (79 ft) wide over the Golden Horn in 1502 for Sultan Bayezid II of Constantinople (today’s Istanbul). The sketch and letter proposal were lost for over 400 years before being rediscovered in 1952.