Leonardo da Vinci

painter, sculptor, architect, musician, scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist,

geologist, cartographer, botanist and writer

“Renaissance Man”

Leonardoda Vinci

1452–1519

Leonardo painted to pay the bills, but his true love was science. One of his best known paintings is the Mona Lisa

The Last Supper

Leonardo da Vinci's Notebooks

Hydraulic Machines Machine to grind convex lenses

Leonardo purposefully left parts of his designs off his notebooks to prevent plagiarism. He also wrote notes and directions backwards so that the reader had to hold a mirror to his writing to read what was written. While some believe that this was another way to prevent plagiarism, others suggest that he wrote this way because he was left handed and didn't want the ink to smear as he moved his hand across the paper.

Observations on human anatomy written in mirror script

Viola organista- first bowed keyboard instrument to ever have been invented

Arial Screw-considered to be an early design for a helicopter.

Flying Machine Based on Bat Wings DesignModern Model of

da Vinci Flying Machine

Many of Leonardo's designs have been built within the last 25 years to test their validity. Not all worked, but some were viable designs centuries before that concept was ever “invented.”

Leonardo's “Tank” Design Modern Model of da Vinci's Tank