Dear Colleagues,
I happened to be Paris last week and was kindly taken by my host to see a really splendid exhibition at the Town Hall (Hotel de Ville) on Gustave Eiffel ' La Magicien du Fer'. (Actually I thought he mainly used steel but that's a detail!). Whatever one may think of the Tower which rears its head in the centre of Paris he was a much wider ranging engineer than many would realise. The exhibition includes large drawings, photos and paintings (some very beautiful) of Eiffel's bridges etc in France and its colonies; he was later implicated in the Panama Canal scandal. There is also material on his early efforts on aviation and ballooning including what must be a very early wind tunnel for testing things like propeller blades. Altogether a really fascinating show and the best possible excuse for a trip on Eurostar ! Admission is free and the exhibition is open until 29 August.
PDH
