Science and inventions of Leonardo da Vinci

Main article: Leonardo da Vinci

Leonardo da Vinci (14521519) was an Italian

polymath, regarded as the epitome of the "Renaissance
Man", displaying skills in numerous diverse areas of
study. Whilst most famous for his paintings such
as the Mona Lisa and the Last Supper, Leonardo
is also renowned in the elds of civil engineer-
ing, chemistry, geology, geometry, hydrodynamics,
mathematics, mechanical engineering, optics, physics,
pyrotechnics, and zoology.
While the full extent of his scientic studies has only
become recognized in the last 150 years, he was, dur- The Arno Valley
ing his lifetime, employed for his engineering and skill
of invention. Many of his designs, such as the mov- His curiosity and interest in scientic observation were
able dikes to protect Venice from invasion, proved too stimulated by his uncle Francesco, while his grandfathers
costly or impractical. Some of his smaller inventions en- keeping of journals set an example which he was to follow
tered the world of manufacturing unheralded. As an en- for most of his life, diligently recording in his own jour-
gineer, Leonardo conceived ideas vastly ahead of his own nals both the events of the day, his visual observations, his
time, conceptually inventing an improved version of the plans and his projects. The journals of Leonardo contain
helicopter, an armoured ghting vehicle, the use of con- matters as mundane as grocery lists and as remarkable as
centrated solar power, a calculator, a rudimentary the- diagrams for the construction of a ying machine.
ory of plate tectonics and the double hull. In practice,
In 1466, Leonardo was sent to Florence to the workshop
he greatly advanced the state of knowledge in the elds
of the artist Verrocchio, in order to learn the skills of an
of anatomy, astronomy, civil engineering, optics, and the
artist. At the workshop, as well as painting and drawing,
study of water (hydrodynamics).
he learnt the study of topographical anatomy.[1] He was
Leonardos most famous drawing, the Vitruvian Man, is also exposed to a very wide range of technical skills such
a study of the proportions of the human body, linking art as drafting, set construction, plasterworking, paint chem-
and science in a single work that has come to represent istry, and metallurgy.
Renaissance Humanism.

1 Condensed biography
Main article: Leonardo da Vinci

NOTE: This is a brief summary of Leonardos

early life and journals with particular emphasis
on his introduction to science.

Leonardo da Vinci (April 15, 1452 May 2, 1519) was

born the illegitimate son of Messer Piero, a notary, and
Caterina, a peasant woman. His early life was spent
in the region of Vinci, in the valley of the Arno River
near Florence, rstly with his mother and in later child-
hood in the household of his father, grandfather and uncle
Francesco.
From Leonardos journals - studies of an old man and the action
of water.
Among the older artists whose work stimulated
Leonardos scientic interest was Piero della Francesca,
then a man in his 60s, who was one of the earliest

1
2 3 LEONARDOS NOTES AND JOURNALS

artists to systematically employ linear perspective in

his paintings, and who had a greater understanding of
the science of light than any other artist of his date.
While Leonardos teacher, Verrocchio, largely ignored
Pieros scientically disciplined approach to painting,
Leonardo and Domenico Ghirlandaio, who also worked
at Verrocchios workshop, did not. Two of Leonardos
earliest paintings, both scenes of the Annunciation show
his competent understanding of the linear perspective.
Leonardo da Vinci was profoundly observant of nature,
his curiosity having been stimulated in early childhood
by his discovery of a deep cave in the mountains and his
intense desire to know what lay inside. His earliest dated
drawing, 1473, is of the valley of the Arno River, where
he lived. It displays some of the many scientic interests
that were to obsess him all his life, in particular geology
and hydrology. [2]

2 Approach to scientic investiga-

tion

Investigating the motion of the arm.

one of intense observation and detailed recording, his

tools of investigation being almost exclusively his eyes.
His journals give insight into his investigative processes.
A recent and exhaustive analysis of Leonardo as a sci-
entist by Fritjof Capra argues that Leonardo was a funda-
mentally dierent kind of scientist from Galileo, Newton,
and other scientists who followed him, his theorizing and
hypothesizing integrating the arts and particularly paint-
ing. Capra sees Leonardos unique integrated, holistic
views of science as making him a forerunner of modern
systems theory and complexity schools of thought.[3]

Studies of a ftus from Leonardos journals

During the Renaissance, the study of art and science was
not perceived as mutually exclusive; on the contrary, the
one was seen as informing upon the other. Although
Leonardos training was primarily as an artist, it was
largely through his scientic approach to the art of paint-
ing, and his development of a style that coupled his scien-
tic knowledge with his unique ability to render what he
saw that created the outstanding masterpieces of art for
which he is famous.
As a scientist, Leonardo had no formal education in Latin
and mathematics and did not attend a university. Because
of these factors, his scientic studies were largely ignored
by other scholars. Leonardos approach to science was
3 Leonardos notes and journals
Leonardo kept a series of journals in which he wrote al-
most daily, as well as separate notes and sheets of obser-
vations, comments and plans. He wrote and drew with
his left hand, and most of his writing is in mirror script,
which makes it dicult to read. Much has survived to
illustrate Leonardos studies, discoveries and inventions.
On his death, his writings were left mainly to his pupil
Melzi with the apparent intention that his scientic work
should be published. This did not take place in Melzis
lifetime, and the writings were eventually bound in dif-
ferent forms and dispersed. Some of his works were pub-
lished as a Treatise on Painting 165 years after his death.
5.1 Light 3

4 Publication
Leonardo illustrated a book on mathematical proportion
in art written by his friend Luca Pacioli and called De div-
ina proportione, published in 1509. He was also prepar-
ing a major treatise on his scientic observations and me-
chanical inventions. It was to be divided into a number of
sections or Books, Leonardo leaving some instructions
as to how they were to be ordered. Many sections of it
appear in his notebooks.
These pages deal with scientic subjects generally but
also specically as they touch upon the creation of art-
works. In relating to art, this is not science that is depen-
dent upon experimentation or the testing of theories. It
deals with detailed observation, particularly the observa-
tion of the natural world, and includes a great deal about
the visual eects of light on dierent natural substances
such as foliage.[4]
Study of the graduations of light and shade on a sphere
Leonardo wrote: (chiaroscuro).

Begun at Florence, in the house of Piero

di Braccio Martelli, on the 22nd day of March
1508. And this is to be a collection without
order, taken from many papers which I have
copied here, hoping to arrange them later each
in its place, according to the subjects of which
they may treat. But I believe that before I am at
the end of this [task] I shall have to repeat the
same things several times; for which, O reader!
do not blame me, for the subjects are many and
memory cannot retain them [all] and say: I will
not write this because I wrote it before. And if
I wished to avoid falling into this fault, it would
be necessary in every case when I wanted to
copy [a passage] that, not to repeat myself, I
should read over all that had gone before; and
all the more since the intervals are long be-
tween one time of writing and the next.[4]

5 Natural science

5.1 Light
Leonardo wrote:
The Lady with an Ermine

The lights which may illuminate opaque

bodies are of 4 kinds. These are: diused light painting of light falling on a surface that modelling, or
as that of the atmosphere... And Direct, as that a three-dimensional appearance was to be achieved in a
of the sun... The third is Reected light; and two-dimensional medium. It was also well understood by
there is a 4th which is that which passes through artists like Leonardos teacher, Verrocchio, that an ap-
[translucent] bodies, as linen or paper or the pearance of space and distance could be achieved in a
like.[4] background landscape by painting in tones that were less
in contrast and colors that were less bright than in the fore-
For an artist working in the 15th century, some study of ground of the painting. The eects of light on solids were
the nature of light was essential. It was by the eective achieved by trial and error, since few artists except Piero
4 5 NATURAL SCIENCE

della Francesca actually had accurate scientic knowl- 5.2.1 Topographic anatomy
edge of the subject.
Leonardo began the formal study of the topographical
At the time when Leonardo commenced painting, it was
anatomy of the human body when apprenticed to Andrea
unusual for gures to be painted with extreme contrast of
del Verrocchio. As a student he would have been taught to
light and shade. Faces, in particular, were shadowed in
draw the human body from life, to memorize the muscles,
a manner that was bland and maintained all the features
tendons and visible subcutaneous structure and to famil-
and contours clearly visible. Leonardo broke with this.
iarise himself with the mechanics of the various parts of
In the painting generally titled The Lady with an Ermine
the skeletal and muscular structure. It was common work-
(about 1483) he sets the gure diagonally to the picture
shop practice to have plaster casts of parts of the human
space and turns her head so that her face is almost parallel
anatomy available for students to study and draw.
to her nearer shoulder. The back of her head and the
further shoulder are deeply shadowed. Around the ovoid
solid of her head and across her breast and hand the light
is diused in such a way that the distance and position of
the light in relation to the gure can be calculated.
Leonardos treatment of light in paintings such as The Vir-
gin of the Rocks and the Mona Lisa was to change for-
ever the way in which artists perceived light and used it
in their paintings. Of all Leonardos scientic legacies,
this is probably the one that had the most immediate and
noticeable eect.

5.2 Human anatomy

Leonardo wrote:

...to obtain a true and perfect knowledge ...

I have dissected more than ten human bodies,
destroying all the other members, and remov-
ing the very minutest particles of the esh by
which these veins are surrounded, ... and as
one single body would not last so long, since it
was necessary to proceed with several bodies
by degrees, until I came to an end and had a
complete knowledge; this I repeated twice, to
learn the dierences...[4]
Two anatomical studies

If, as is thought to be the case, Leonardo painted the

torso and arms of Christ in The Baptism of Christ on
which he famously collaborated with his master Verroc-
chio, then his understanding of topographical anatomy
had surpassed that of his master at an early age as can
be seen by a comparison of the arms of Christ with those
of John the Baptist in the same painting.
In the 1490s he wrote about demonstrating muscles and
sinews to students:

Remember that to be certain of the point of

origin of any muscle, you must pull the sinew
from which the muscle springs in such a way
as to see that muscle move, and where it is at-
tached to the ligaments of the bones.[4]
Study of the proportions of the head.
His continued investigations in this eld occupied many
5.2 Human anatomy
pages of notes, each dealing systematically with a partic-
ular aspect of anatomy. It appears that the notes were
intended for publication, a task entrusted on his death to
his pupil Melzi.
In conjunction with studies of aspects of the body are
drawings of faces displaying dierent emotions and many
drawings of people suering facial deformity, either con-
genital or through illness. Some of these drawings, gener-
ally referred to as caricatures, on analysis of the skeletal
proportions, appear to be based on anatomical studies.
5.2.2 Dissection
Dissection of the skull.
As Leonardo became successful as an artist, he was given
permission to dissect human corpses at the hospital Santa
Maria Nuova in Florence. Later he dissected in Milan at
the hospital Maggiore and in Rome at the hospital Santo
Spirito (the rst mainland Italian hospital). From 1510
to 1511 he collaborated in his studies with the doctor
Marcantonio della Torre.
I have removed the skin from a man who
was so shrunk by illness that the muscles were
worn down and remained in a state like thin
membrane, in such a way that the sinews in-
stead of merging in muscles ended in wide
membrane; and where the bones were covered
by the skin they had very little over their natural
size.[4]
In 30 years, Leonardo dissected 30 male and female
corpses of dierent ages. Together with Marcantonio,
he prepared to publish a theoretical work on anatomy and
made more than 200 drawings. However, his book was
published only in 1680 (161 years after his death) under
the heading Treatise on painting.
5
The organs of a womans body.
Among the detailed images that Leonardo drew are many
studies of the human skeleton. He was the rst to describe
the double S form of the backbone. He also studied the
inclination of pelvis and sacrum and stressed that sacrum
was not uniform, but composed of ve fused vertebrae.
He also studied the anatomy of the human foot and its
connection to the leg, and from these studies, he was able
to further his studies in biomechanics.
Leonardo was a physiologist as well as an anatomist,
studying the function of the human body as well as ex-
amining and recording its structure. He dissected and
drew the human skull and cross-sections of the brain,
transversal, sagittal, and frontal. These drawings may be
linked to a search for the sensus communis, the locus of
the human senses,[5] which, by Medieval tradition, was
located at the exact physical center of the skull.
Leonardo studied internal organs, being the rst to draw
the human appendix and the lungs, mesentery, urinary
tract, reproductive organs, the muscles of the cervix and
a detailed cross-section of coitus. He was one of the rst
to draw a scientic representation of the fetus in the in-
trautero.
Leonardo studied the vascular system and drew a dis-
sected heart in detail. He correctly worked out how heart
valves ebb the ow of blood yet he did not fully under-
stand circulation as he believed that blood was pumped
to the muscles where it was consumed. In 2005 a UK
heart surgeon, Francis Wells, from Papworth Hospital
Cambridge, pioneered repair to damaged hearts, using
Leonardos depiction of the opening phase of the mi-
tral valve to operate without changing its diameter allow-
ing an individual to recover more quickly. Wells said
6 5 NATURAL SCIENCE

Leonardo had a depth of appreciation of the anatomy cows, birds, monkeys and frogs, comparing in his draw-
and physiology of the body - its structure and function - ings their anatomical structure with that of humans. On
that perhaps has been overlooked by some.[6] one page of his journal Leonardo drew ve prole studies
Leonardos observational acumen, drawing skill, and the of a horse with its teeth bared in anger and, for compari-
clarity of depiction of bone structures reveal him at son, a snarling lion and a snarling man.
his nest as an anatomist. However, his depiction of
the internal soft tissues of the body are incorrect in I have found that in the composition of
many ways, showing that he maintained concepts of the human body as compared with the bodies
anatomy and functioning that were in some cases millen- of animals, the organs of sense are duller and
nia old, and that his investigations were probably ham- coarser... I have seen in the Lion tribe that the
pered by the lack of preservation techniques available sense of smell is connected with part of the sub-
at the time. Leonardos detailed drawing of the inter- stance of the brain which comes down the nos-
nal organs of a woman (See left) reveal many traditional trils, which form a spacious receptacle for the
misconceptions.[7][8] sense of smell, which enters by a great number
of cartilaginous vesicles with several passages
Leonardos study of human anatomy led also to the design leading up to where the brain, as before said,
of an automaton which has come to be called Leonardos comes down.[4]
robot, was probably made around the year 1495 but was
rediscovered only in the 1950s.
In the early 1490s Leonardo was commissioned to create
a monument in honour of Francesco Sforza. In his note-
5.3 Comparative anatomy books are a series of plans for an equestrian monument.
There are also a large number of related anatomical stud-
ies of horses. They include several diagrams of a standing
horse with the angles and proportions annotated, anatom-
ical studies of horses heads, a dozen detailed drawings of
hooves and numerous studies and sketches of horses rear-
ing.
He studied the topographical anatomy of a bear in detail,
making many drawings of its paws. There is also a draw-
ing of the muscles and tendons of the bears hind feet.
Other drawings of particular interest include the uterus
of a pregnant cow, the hindquarters of a decrepit mule
and studies of the musculature of a little dog.

5.4 Botany
Leonardo wrote:

All the branches of a tree at every stage of

its height when put together are equal in thick-
ness to the trunk [below them].[4]

The science of botany was long established by Leonardos

time, a treatise on the subject having been written as
early as 300 BCE.[9] Leonardos study of plants, result-
ing in many beautiful drawings in his notebooks, was not
to record in diagramatic form the parts of the plant, but
rather, as an artist and observer to record the precise ap-
pearance of plants, the manner of growth and the way that
individual plants and owers of a single variety diered
from one another.
One such study shows a page with several species of
Comparison of the leg of a man and a dog. ower of which ten drawings are of wild violets. Along
with a drawing of the growing plant and a detail of a leaf,
Leonardo not only studied human anatomy, but the Leonardo has repeatedly drawn single owers from dif-
anatomy of many other animals as well. He dissected ferent angles, with their heads set dierently on the stem.
5.5 Geology 7

A topographical map

Study of sedge
It had been observed for many years that strata in moun-
tains often contained bands of sea shells. Conservative
science said that these could be explained by the Great
Apart from owers the notebooks contain many draw- Flood described in the Bible. Leonardos observations
ings of crop plants including several types of grain and a convinced him that this could not possibly be the case.
variety of berries including a detailed study of bramble.
There are also water plants such as irises and sedge. His
notebooks also direct the artist to observe how light re-
ects from foliage at dierent distances and under dif-
ferent atmospheric conditions.
A number of the drawings have their equivalents in
Leonardos paintings. An elegant study of a stem of lilies
may have been for one of Leonardos early Annunciation
paintings, carried in the hand of the Archangel Gabriel.
In both the Annunciation pictures the grass is dotted with
blossoming plants.
The plants which appear in both the versions of The Vir-
gin of the Rocks demonstrate the results of Leonardos
studies in a meticulous realism that makes each plant
readily identiable to the botanist.

5.5 Geology
As an adult, Leonardo had only two childhood memo-
ries, one of which was the nding of a cave in the Apen-
nines. Although fearing that he might be attacked by a
wild beast, he ventured in driven by the burning desire to
see whether there might be any marvelous thing within.
Leonardos earliest dated drawing is a study of the Arno
Valley, strongly emphasizing its geological features. His
notebooks contain landscapes with a wealth of geological
observation from the regions of both Florence and Milan,
often including atmospheric eects such as a heavy rain-
storm pouring down on a town at the foot of a mountain The Virgin of the Rocks
range.
8 5 NATURAL SCIENCE

And a little beyond the sandstone conglom-
erate, a tufa has been formed, where it turned
towards Castel Florentino; farther on, the mud
was deposited in which the shells lived, and
which rose in layers according to the levels
at which the turbid Arno owed into that sea.
And from time to time the bottom of the sea
was raised, depositing these shells in layers, as
may be seen in the cutting at Colle Gonzoli,
laid open by the Arno which is wearing away
the base of it; in which cutting the said layers
of shells are very plainly to be seen in clay of
a bluish colour, and various marine objects are
found there.[4]
architect. Leonardo also produced a map of Chiana Val-
ley in Tuscany, which he surveyed, without the benet
of modern equipment, by pacing the distances. In 1515,
Leonardo produced a map of the Roman Southern Coast
which is linked to his work for the Vatican and relates to
his plans to drain the marshland.
Recent research by Donato Pezzutto suggests that the
background landscapes in Leonardos paintings depict
specic locations as aerial views with enhanced depth,
employing a technique called cartographic perspective.
Pezzutto identies the location of the Mona Lisa to the
Val di Chiana, the Annunciation to the Arno Valley, the
Madonna of the Yarnwinder to the Adda Valley and The
Virgin and Child with St Anne to the Sessia Valley.[11]

This quotation makes clear the breadth of Leonardos

understanding of geology, including the action of water 5.7 Hydrodynamics
in creating sedimentary rock, the tectonic action of the
Earth in raising the sea bed and the action of erosion in
the creation of geographical features.
In Leonardos earliest paintings we see the remarkable at-
tention given to the small landscapes of the background,
with lakes and water, swathed in a misty light. In the
larger of the Annunciation paintings is a town on the edge
of a lake. Although distant, the mountains can be seen to
be scored by vertical strata. This characteristic can be
observed in other paintings by Leonardo, and closely re-
sembles the mountains around Lago di Garda and Lago
d'Iseo in Northern Italy. It is a particular feature of both
the paintings of The Virgin of the Rocks, which also in-
clude caverns of fractured, tumbled, and water-eroded
limestone.[10]

5.6 Cartography

Studies of water

Leonardo wrote:

All the branches of a water [course] at ev-

ery stage of its course, if they are of equal
Leonardos accurate map of Imola for Cesare Borgia.
rapidity, are equal to the body of the main
stream.[4]
In the early 16th century maps were rare and often in-
accurate. Leonardo produced several extremely accurate
maps such as the town plan of Imola created in 1502 in Among Leonardos drawings are many that are studies of
order to win the patronage of Cesare Borgia. Borgia was the motion of water, in particular the forms taken by fast-
so impressed that he hired him as a military engineer and owing water on striking dierent surfaces.

Many of these drawings depict the spiralling nature of
water. The spiral form had been studied in the art of the
Classical era and strict mathematical proportion had been
applied to its use in art and architecture. An awareness
of these rules of proportion had been revived in the early
Renaissance. In Leonardos drawings can be seen the in-
vestigation of the spiral as it occurs in water.
There are several elaborate drawings of water curling over
an object placed at a diagonal to its course. There are sev-
eral drawings of water dropping from a height and curl-
ing upwards in spiral forms. One such drawing, as well
as curling waves, shows splashes and details of spray and
bubbles.
Leonardos interest manifested itself in the drawing of
streams and rivers, the action of water in eroding rocks,
and the cataclysmic action of water in oods and tidal
waves. The knowledge that he gained from his studies
was employed in devising a range of projects, particularly
in relation to the Arno River. None of the major works
was brought to completion.
5.8 Astronomy
The earth is not in the centre of the Suns
orbit nor at the centre of the universe, but in the
centre of its companion elements, and united
with them. And any one standing on the moon,
when it and the sun are both beneath us, would
see this our earth and the element of water upon
it just as we see the moon, and the earth would
light it as it lights us.[4][12]
5.9 Alchemy
Claims are sometimes made that Leonardo da Vinci was linear perspective.
an alchemist. He was trained in the workshop of Ver-
rocchio, who according to Vasari, was an able alchemist.
Leonardo was a chemist in so much as that he experi-
mented with dierent media for suspending paint pig-
ment. In the painting of murals, his experiments resulted
in notorious failures with the Last Supper deteriorating
within a century, and the Battle of Anghiari running o
the wall. In Leonardos many pages of notes about artistic
processes, there are some that pertain to the use of silver
and gold in artworks, information he would have learned
as a student.[13]
Leonardos scientic process was based mainly upon ob-
servation. His practical experiments are also founded in
observation rather than belief. Leonardo, who questioned
the order of the solar system and the deposit of fossils by
the Great Flood, had little time for the alchemical quests
to turn lead into gold or create a potion that gave eternal
life.
Leonardo said about alchemists:
The false interpreters of nature declare that
9
quicksilver is the common seed of every metal,
not remembering that nature varies the seed ac-
cording to the variety of the things she desires
to produce in the world.[4][14]
Old alchemists... have never either by
chance or by experiment succeeded in creat-
ing the smallest element that can be created
by nature; however [they] deserve unmeasured
praise for the usefulness of things invented for
the use of men, and would deserve it even
more if they had not been the inventors of nox-
ious things like poisons and other similar things
which destroy life or mind.[15]
And many have made a trade of delu-
sions and false miracles, deceiving the stupid
multitude.[4]
6 Mathematical studies
6.1 Perspective
The art of perspective is of such a nature as
to make what is at appear in relief and what is
in relief at.[4]
During the early 15th century, both Brunelleschi and
Alberti made studies of linear perspective. In 1436 Al-
berti published della Pittura (On Painting), which
includes his ndings on linear perspective. Piero della
Francesca carried his work forward and by the 1470s a
number of artists were able to produce works of art that
demonstrated a full understanding of the principles of
Draft of the perspective for Adoration of the Magi
Leonardo studied linear perspective and employed it in
his earlier paintings. His use of perspective in the two
Annunciations is daring, as he uses various features such
as the corner of a building, a walled garden and a path to
contrast enclosure and spaciousness.
The unnished Adoration of the Magi was intended to be
a masterpiece revealing much of Leonardos knowledge
of gure drawing and perspective. There exists a number
10 7 ENGINEERING AND INVENTION

of studies that he made, including a detailed study of the
perspective, showing the complex background of ruined
Classical buildings that he planned for the left of the pic-
ture. In addition, Leonardo is credited with the rst use
of anamorphosis, the use of a perspective to produce
an image that is intelligible only with a curved mirror or
from a specic vantage point.[16]
Leonardo wrote:
Those who are in love with practice without
knowledge are like the sailor who gets into a
ship without rudder or compass and who never
can be certain whether he is going. Practice
must always be founded on sound theory, and
to this Perspective is the guide and the gateway;
and without this nothing can be done well in the
matter of drawing.[4]
6.2 Geometry
supercies and the solid. The point is unique
of its kind. And the point has neither height,
breadth, length, nor depth, whence it is to be
regarded as indivisible and as having no dimen-
sions in space.[4]
7 Engineering and invention
Vasari in Lives of the Artists says of Leonardo:
He made designs for mills, fulling ma-
chines and engines that could be driven by
water-power... In addition he used to make
models and plans showing how to excavate
and tunnel through mountains without di-
culty, so as to pass from one level to an-
other; and he demonstrated how to lift and
draw great weights by means of levers, hoists
and winches, and ways of cleansing harbours
and using pumps to suck up water from great
depths.

7.1 Practical inventions and projects

The rhombicuboctahedron, as published in De divina propor-

tione.

While in Milan in 1496 Leonardo met a traveling monk

and academic, Luca Pacioli. Under him, Leonardo stud-
ied mathematics. Pacioli, who rst codied and recorded
the double entry system of bookkeeping,[17] had already
published a major treatise on mathematical knowledge,
collaborated with Leonardo in the production of a book
called De divina proportione about mathematical and
artistic proportion. Leonardo prepared a series of draw-
ings of regular solids in a skeletal form to be engraved as
plates. De divina proportione was published in 1509. A machine for grinding convex lenses

All the problems of perspective are made Leonardo was a master of mechanical principles. He uti-
clear by the ve terms of mathematicians, lized leverage and cantilevering, pulleys, cranks, gears,
which are:the point, the line, the angle, the including angle gears and rack and pinion gears; parallel
7.3 War machines 11

linkage, lubrication systems and bearings. He under-

stood the principles governing momentum, centripetal
force, friction and the aerofoil and applied these to his
inventions. His scientic studies remained unpublished
with, for example, his manuscripts describing the pro-
cesses governing friction predating the introduction of
Amontons' Laws of Friction by 150 years.[18]
It is impossible to say with any certainty how many or
even which of his inventions passed into general and prac-
tical use, and thereby had impact over the lives of many
people. Among those inventions that are credited with
passing into general practical use are the strut bridge,
the automated bobbin winder, the rolling mill, the ma-
chine for testing the tensile strength of wire and the lens-
grinding machine pictured at right. In the lens-grinding
machine, the hand rotation of the grinding wheel oper-
ates an angle-gear, which rotates a shaft, turning a geared
dish in which sits the glass or crystal to be ground. A
single action rotates both surfaces at a xed speed ratio
determined by the gear.
As an inventor, Leonardo was not prepared to tell all that
he knew:

How by means of a certain machine many

people may stay some time under water. How
and why I do not describe my method of re-
maining under water, or how long I can stay
without eating; and I do not publish nor divulge
these by reason of the evil nature of men who
would use them as means of destruction at the
bottom of the sea, by sending ships to the bot-
tom, and sinking them together with the men in
them. And although I will impart others, there
is no danger in them; because the mouth of the
tube, by which you breathe, is above the water
supported on bags of corks.[4]
Various hydraulic machines
In 1502, Leonardo produced a drawing of a single span
240 m (720 ft) bridge as part of a civil engineering
project for Ottoman Sultan Beyazid II of Istanbul. The
bridge was intended to span an inlet at the mouth of the
Bosphorus known as the Golden Horn. Beyazid did not
pursue the project, because he believed that such a con-
struction was impossible. Leonardos vision was resur-
rected in 2001 when a smaller bridge based on his design
was constructed in Norway.

7.2 Bridges and hydraulics

Leonardos study of the motion of water led him to design
machinery that utilized its force. Much of his work on Leonardos letter to Ludovico il Moro assured him:
hydraulics was for Ludovico il Moro. Leonardo wrote to
Ludovico describing his skills and what he could build:
very light and strong bridges that can
easily be carried, with which to pursue, and
sometimes ee from, the enemy; and others
safe and indestructible by re or assault, easy
and convenient to transport and place into po-
sition.
Among his projects in Florence was one to divert the
course of the Arno, in order to ood Pisa. Fortunately,
this was too costly to be carried out. He also surveyed
Venice and came up with a plan to create a movable dyke
for the citys protection against invaders.
7.3 War machines
When a place is besieged I know how to cut
o water from the trenches and construct an
innite variety of bridges, mantlets and scal-
ing ladders, and other instruments pertaining
to sieges. I also have types of mortars that
are very convenient and easy to transport....
when a place cannot be reduced by the method
of bombardment either because of its height
or its location, I have methods for destroying
any fortress or other stronghold, even if it be
founded upon rock. ....If the engagement be
at sea, I have many engines of a kind most ef-
cient for oence and defence, and ships that
can resist cannons and powder.
12
An arsenal
In Leonardos notebooks there is an array of war ma-
chines which includes a vehicle to be propelled by two
men powering crank shafts. Although the drawing it-
self looks quite nished, the mechanics were apparently
not fully developed because, if built as drawn, the ve-
hicle would never progress in a forward direction. In a
BBC documentary, a military team built the machine and
changed the gears in order to make the machine work.
It has been suggested that Leonardo deliberately left this
error in the design, in order to prevent it from being put
to practice by unauthorized people.[19] Another machine,
propelled by horses with a pillion rider, carries in front of
it four scythes mounted on a revolving gear, turned by a
shaft driven by the wheels of a cart behind the horses.
Leonardos proposed vehicle
Leonardos notebooks also show cannons which he
claimed to hurl small stones like a storm with the smoke
of these causing great terror to the enemy, and great loss
and confusion. He also designed an enormous crossbow.
Following his detailed drawing, one was constructed by
the British Army, but could not be made to re success-
7 ENGINEERING AND INVENTION
fully. In 1481 Leonardo designed a breech-loading, wa-
ter cooled cannon with three racks of barrels allowed the
re-loading of one rack while another was being red and
thus maintaining continuous re power. The fan type
gun with its array of horizontal barrels allowed for a wide
scattering of shot.
Leonardo was the rst to sketch the wheel-lock musket
c. 1500 AD (the precedent of the intlock musket which
rst appeared in Europe by 1547), although as early as
the 14th century the Chinese had used a intlock 'steel
wheel' in order to detonate land mines.[20]
While Leonardo was working in Venice, he drew a sketch
for an early diving suit, to be used in the destruction of
enemy ships entering Venetian waters. A suit was con-
structed for a BBC documentary using pigskin treated
with sh oil to repel water. The head was covered by a
helmet with two eyeglasses at the front. A breathing tube
of bamboo with pigskin joints was attached to the back
of the helmet and connected to a oat of cork and wood.
When the scuba divers tested the suit, they found it to be a
workable precursor to a modern diving suit, the cork oat
acting as a compressed air chamber when submerged.[21]
His inventions were very futuristic which meant they were
very expensive and proved not to be useful.
7.4 Flight
In Leonardos infancy a hawk had once hovered over
his cradle. Recalling this incident, Leonardo saw it as
prophetic.
An object oers as much resistance to the
air as the air does to the object. You may see
that the beating of its wings against the air sup-
ports a heavy eagle in the highest and rarest
atmosphere, close to the sphere of elemental
re. Again you may see the air in motion over
the sea, ll the swelling sails and drive heavily
laden ships. From these instances, and the rea-
sons given, a man with wings large enough and
duly connected might learn to overcome the re-
sistance of the air, and by conquering it, suc-
ceed in subjugating it and rising above it.[4]
The desire to y is expressed in the many studies and
drawings. His later journals contain a detailed study of
the ight of birds and several dierent designs for wings
based in structure upon those of bats which he described
as being less heavy because of the impenetrable nature of
the membrane. There is a legend that Leonardo tested the
ying machine on Monte Ceceri with one of his appren-
tices, and that the apprentice fell and broke his leg.[22] Ex-
perts Martin Kemp and Liana Bortolon agree that there
is no evidence of such a test, which is not mentioned in
his journals.
7.5 Musical instrument 13

7.5 Musical instrument

Main article: viola organista

The viola organista was an experimental musical instru-

ment invented by Leonardo da Vinci. It was the rst
bowed keyboard instrument (of which any record has sur-
vived) ever to be devised.
Leonardos original idea, as preserved in his notebooks
of 14881489 and in the drawings in the Codex Atlanti-
cus, was to use one or more wheels, continuously rotating,
each of which pulled a looping bow, rather like a fanbelt
in an automobile engine, and perpendicular to the instru-
ments strings.

8 Leonardos inventions made re-

ality

The ight of a bird

Model of a ying machine by Leonardo in the V&A museum

In the late 20th century, interest in Leonardos inventions

escalated. There have been many projects which have
sought to turn diagrams on paper into working models.
One of the factors is the awareness that, although in the
15th and 16th centuries Leonardo had available a limited
range of materials, modern technological advancements
Design for a ying machine with wings based closely upon the have made available a number of robust materials of light-
structure of a bats wings. weight which might turn Leonardos designs into reality.
This is particularly the case with his designs for ying ma-
chines.
One design that he produced shows a ying machine to A diculty encountered in the creation of models is that
be lifted by a man-powered rotor.[23] It would not haveoften Leonardo had not entirely thought through the me-
worked since the body of the craft itself would have ro-
chanics of a machine before he drew it, or else he used a
tated in the opposite direction to the rotor.[24] sort of graphic shorthand, simply not bothering to draw a
While he designed a number of man powered ying ma- gear or a lever at a point where one is essential in order to
chines with mechanical wings that apped, he also de- make a machine function. This lack of renement of me-
signed a parachute and a light hang glider which could chanical details can cause considerable confusion. Thus
have own.[25] many models that are created, such as some of those on
14 10 MODELS BASED ON LEONARDOS DRAWINGS

display at Clos Luce, Leonardos home in France, do not

work, but would work, with a little mechanical tweaking.

8.1 Exhibitions
Leonardo da Vinci Gallery at Museo Nazionale della
Scienza e della Tecnologia Leonardo da Vinci in Cannons.
Milan; permanent exhibition, the biggest collection
of Leonardos projects and inventions.[26]

Models of Leonardos designs are on permanent dis-

play at Clos Luce.

The Victoria and Albert Museum, London, held an

exhibition called Leonardo da Vinci: Experience,
Experiment and Design in 2006
Walking on water.
Logitech Museum

The Da Vinci Machines Exhibition was held in a

pavilion in the Cultural Forecourt, at South Bank,
Brisbane, Queensland, Australia in 2009. The ex- 10 Models based on Leonardos
hibits shown were on loan from the Museum of
Leonardo da Vinci, Florence, Italy. drawings

8.2 Television programs

The U.S. Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), aired
in October 2005, a television programme called
Leonardos Dream Machines, about the building and
successful ight of a glider based upon Leonardos
design. Model of Leonardos parachute.
The Discovery Channel began a series called Doing
DaVinci in April 2009, in which a team of builders
try to construct various da Vinci inventions based on
his designs.[27]

Model after Leonardos

9 Leonardos projects design for the Golden Horn Bridge.

Model of a ghting vehicle

by Leonardo
A parabolic compass.

An aerial screw, sugges-

tive of a helicopter. Model of a ywheel

11 See also
Studies of the Fetus in the Wombtwo colored an-
notated sketches by Leonardo da Vinci
List of works by Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo da Vincis personal life
12 Notes
[1] Topographical anatomy is the anatomy that is visible on
the surface of the body.
[2] Liana Bortolon, The Life and Times of Leonardo, Paul
Hamlyn, 1967
[3] Capra, Fritjof. The Science of Leonardo; Inside the Mind
of the Genius of the Renaissance. (New York, Doubleday,
2007)
[4] Jean Paul Richter editor 1880, The Notebooks of Leonardo
da Vinci Dover, 1970, ISBN 0-486-22572-0. (accessed
2007-02-04)
[5]
[6] Da Vinci clue for heart surgeon. BBC News. 2005-09-
28. Retrieved 2013-07-18.
[7] Martin Kemp, Leonardo, Oxford University Press, (2004)
ISBN 0-19-280644-0
[8] Live Science
[9] E.g. Theophrastus, On the History of Plants.
[10] The London painting of the Virgin of the Rocks is de-
nounced by the geologist Ann C. Pizzorusso, of New
York, as largely by the hand of someone other than
Leonardo, because the rocks appear incongruous and the
lake looks like a fjord. Pizzorusso says Fjords do not ex-
ist in Italy and it is highly unlikely the glacial lakes of the
Lombard region would have such steep relief surround-
ing them. In fact, the glacial lake, Garda, has just such
steep geological formations. The sedimentary red lime-
stone which appears in the picture is also typical of Italy.
[11] Pezzutto, Donato (2012-10-24). Leonardos Landscapes
as Maps. OPUSeJ. Retrieved 2012-11-07.
[12] See Da Vincis notebooks on astronomy.
[13] Bruce T. Moran, Distilling Knowledge, Chemistry,
Alchemy and the Scientic Revolution, (2005) ISBN 0-
674-01495-2
[14] Quicksilver is an old name for mercury.
[15] Irma Ann Richter and Teresa Wells, Leonardo da Vinci -
Notebooks, Oxford University Press (2008) ISBN 978-0-
19-929902-7
[16] Animations of anamorphosis of Leonardo and other
artists. Illusionworks.com. Retrieved 2013-07-18.
15
[17] L. Murphy Smith, Luca Pacioli: The Father of Accounting
[18] Leonardo da Vinci (14521519)". Nano-world.org. Re-
trieved 2013-07-24.
[19] Da Vinci war machines designed to fail"". The Age.
Melbourne. December 14, 2002.
[20] Needham, Volume 5, Part 7, 199.
[21] Youtube Video of the BBC documentary.
[22] Liana Bortolon, Leonardo, Paul Hamlyn, (1967)
[23] The Helicopter Leonardo Da Vincis Inventions.
leonardodavincisinventions.com. Retrieved 2016-03-21.
[24] see Helicopter for detailed description of solutions and
types of functional helicopter.
[25] U.S. Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), Leonardos
Dream Machine, October 2005
[26] Leonardo. Museoscienzaorg. Retrieved May 16, 2016.
[27] About Doing DaVinci : Doing DaVinci : Discovery
Channel Archived April 19, 2009, at the Wayback Ma-
chine.
13 References
Bsmbach, Carmen (2003). Leonardo da Vinci, Mas-
ter Draftsman. New Haven: Yale University Press.
p. 414. ISBN 0-300-09878-2.
14 Further reading
Moon, Francis C. (2007). The Machines of
Leonardo da Vinci and Franz Reuleaux, Kinematics
of Machines from the Renaissance to the 20th Cen-
tury. Springer. ISBN 978-1-4020-5598-0.
Capra, Fritjof (2007). The Science of Leonardo; In-
side the Mind of the Genius of the Renaissance. New
York: Doubleday.
15 External links
The Art of War: Leonardo da Vincis War Machines
Complete text & images of Richters translation of
the Notebooks
Leonardo da Vinci: Experience, Experiment, De-
sign (review)
Some digitized notebook pages with explanations
from the British Library (Non HTML5 Available)
Digital and animated compendium of anatomy note-
book pages
16 15 EXTERNAL LINKS

BBC Leonardo homepage

Leonardo da Vinci: The Leicester Codex

Leonardos Letter to Ludovico Sforza

Animations of anamorphosis of Leonardo and other

artists

The Invention of the Parachute

Da Vinci - The Genius: A comprehensive traveling
exhibition about Leonardo da Vinci
The technical drawings of Leonardo da Vinci - a
high resolution gallery

Leonardo da Vinci: anatomical drawings from the

Royal Library, Windsor Castle, exhibition catalog
fully online as PDF from The Metropolitan Museum
of Art

Leonardo da Vinci, Master Draftsman, exhibition

catalog fully online as PDF from The Metropolitan
Museum of Art
 17

16 Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

16.1 Text
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16.2 Images
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main Contributors: ? Original artist: ?
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cense: Public domain Contributors: ? Original artist: ?
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18 16 TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES

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