Da Vinci's first record of laws of friction discovered

Scientists have identified a page of scribbles in a tiny notebook dating back to 1493 as the place where Italian polymath Leonardo da Vinci first recorded the laws of friction. The detailed study of notes and sketches by Leonardo also shows that he went on to apply this knowledge repeatedly to mechanical problems for more than 20 years. The research by Ian Hutchings, professor at University of Cambridge in the UK, is the first detailed chronological study of Leonardo’s work on friction, and has also shown how he continued to apply his knowledge of the subject to wider woek on machines. It is widely known that Leonardo conducted the first systematic study of friction, which underpins the modern science of ‘tribology’, but exactly when and how he developed these ideas has been uncertain until now. Hutching has discovered that Leonardo’s first statement of the laws of friction is in a tiny notebook measuring just 92mm × 63mm. the book is now held in the Victoria and Albert Museum in the UK, contains a statement scribbled quickly in Leonardo’s characteristic “mirror writing” from right to left.