The Link Between Arches and Chains

I knew a little bit about how arches work, but I didn't know how they related to hanging chains. If you've never taken an engineering course, this lesson might blow your mind. The concept is described in a clear and concise way at the beginning, but the further you go into how arches and chains actually work, the more interesting it gets. We may laugh at the lack of medical knowledge in the medieval era, but at the same time engineers and architects were transforming their physics observations and experiments into amazing bridges and cathedrals that are still in use hundreds of years later. (via Nag on the Lake)