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From Brycgstow to Bristol in 45 bridges
Each one of Bristol’s bridges has a fascinating story which is woven intimately into the 1,000-year history of the city. Why was it built? What was involved in its design, engineering and construction? What dramatic events sometimes swirled around and perhaps on it? In this book Jeff Lucas tells the story of each of the 45 bridges which span the main waterways of Bristol between Avonmouth and St Anne’s, and which can be crossed on foot. The bridges are linked into a 45km circular walk that takes you from the nooks and crannies of the inner city to the open vistas of the Severn Estuary and back again. This walk is also the solution to an intriguing mathematical puzzle called The Königsberg Bridge Problem: how to walk around a given set of bridges crossing each one only once. The problem has been solved for Bristol’s 45 bridges by Thilo Gross, a young mathematician lately at Bristol University, who contributes a chapter about the bridge problem, its importance to mathematics and the modern world, and how he solved it for Bristol.
Figure 1: Cover image by Jeff Lucas (This is a photo!)
