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"There can be no greater or lesser mastery than over oneself"
Leonardo DaVinci
"There can be no greater or lesser mastery than over oneself"
Leonardo DaVinci
Leonardo da Vinci was one of the greatest inventor-scientist of recorded history. His genius was unbounded by time and technology, and was driven by his insatiable curiosity, and his intuitive sense of the laws of nature.
Da Vinci was dedicated to discovery of truth and the mysteries of nature, and his insightful contributions to science and technology were legendary. As the archetypical Renaissance man, Leonardo helped set an ignorant and superstitous world on a course of reason, science, learning, and tolerance. He was an internationally renowned inventor, scientists, engineer, architect, painter, sculptor, musician, mathematician, anatomist, astronomer, geologists, biologist, and philosopher in his time.
Born in 1452 as an illegitimate son of Ser piero da Vinci, da Vinci was sent to Florence in his teens to apprentice as a painter under Andrea del Verrocchio. He quickly developed his own artistic style which was unique and contrary to tradition, even going so far as to devised his own special formula of paint. His style was characterized by diffuse shadows and subtle hues and marked the beginning of the High Renaissance period. Like many great original efforts, da Vinci's artistic style was largely unpopular for the next quarter century.
Later Da Vinci became the court artist for the duke of Milan. Throughout his life he also served various other roles, including civil engineer and architect (designing mechanical structures such as bridges and aqueducts), and military planner and weapons designer (designing rudimentary tanks, catapults, machine guns, and even navel weapons).
Da Vinci's creative, analytic, and visionary inventiveness has yet to be matched.
A small catalog of his innovative designs include:
Flying Machines
Parachutes
Submarines
Underwater Rebreathing Devices
Self Floatation/Ocean Rescue Devices
Swimming Fins
Pumping Mechanisms
Water Turbines
Dredging Systems
Steam Calorimeters
Water-well Drill
Swing Bridges
Canals
Leveling/Surveying Instruments
Cranes
Pulley Systems
Street-lighting Systems
Convection Roasting Spit
Mechanical Saw
Treadle-operated Lathe
Compasses
Contact Lenses
Military Weapons
Some famous scientific accomplishments include:
Proposing the earth rotates around the sun
Proposing that the moon's light is reflected sunlight
Correctly Explaining why sea shells are sometimes found miles inland on mountain tops
Creating the first textbook of human anatomy
Some great artistic masterpieces include:
The Baptism of Christ
The Mona Lisa
The Last Supper
The Adoration of the Three Kings
It is said, correctly in my opinion, that Leonardo's greatest feat was in the diversity of his study and achievements. The varied and wide ranging fields he mastered and the volume of original thought he contributed mark him as one of the most tremendously extraordinary men born in his century.
For another short biography of DaVinci, click HERE.
