Of Weight: Between Arithmetic and Geometry
Weight depends on the strength of its supports, not on geometric figures
A short theoretical note headed 'Of weight' argues that weight, standing between arithmetic and geometry, is indifferent to geometric figures — even though geometry largely governs it — and depends only on the powers of its supports. It presses the more heavily the weaker those supports are, and supports are weaker the farther they lie from the central line of their fixity relative to the centre of their accidental gravity. The verso is otherwise nearly blank apart from a faint offset of the fortification drawing from the facing leaf.
On this page
Weight lies between arithmetic and geometry
Leonardo places weight conceptually between arithmetic and geometry, saying it does not concern itself with geometric figures but only with the powers of the supports that sustain it. A weight shows itself heavier as its supports are weaker, and those supports are weaker that lie farther from the central line of their fixity, together with the centre of their accidental gravity.
