Piston power

Power is wealth - and gunpowder is power indeed. Explore how Leonardo's...

Power is wealth - and gunpowder is power indeed. Explore how Leonardo's groundbreaking designs for a gunpowder powered piston ultimately led to the invention of steam engines.

By: Jem Stansfield (Guest), Dr Graham Hollister-Short (Guest, External Institutions, Imperial College, London)

Duration: 5 mins
Published on: Tuesday 12th October 2010
Introductory Level
Posted under: Across the Sciences, Design and Innovation

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150 years after Leonardo's manuscript depicting a gunpowder powered piston, French physicist Denis Papin made a working model, but there were insurmountable problems with using gunpowder to power an engine, so Papin turned his attention to steam, with, ultimately, world changing results.

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