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Leonardo da Vinci: the master of self-education Perhaps no one in history achieved so much in so many different fields as did Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519). An outstanding painter, scultor, and architect, he also designed bridges, highways, weapons, costumes, and scientific instruments. He invented the diving bell and tank, and - though they could not be built with the materials of the time - flying machines. He made important discoveries about the structure of the human body. |
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From his notebooks we can tell that Leonardo approached science and art in the same methodical manner: after studying a problem, he made many sketches to help him find a solution. He saw no difference between planning a machine and a painting, and he became an expert in every field that interested him. His notebooks show the great variety and originality of his scientific observations. He illustrated his theories with very beautiful and exact drawings. By studying his drawings of machines, 20th-century engineers, with modern materials, have been able to build models that work perfectly. The notebooks are hard to read because he used mirror writing. He did not want his ideas to be stolen. People of the Renaissance set impossibly high goals for themselves. Leonardo da Vinci, the person who came closest to reaching all of those goals, died in his French chateau on May 2, 1519. Source: The Book of Knowledge, 1983. Volume L11, pg 152. Grolier Incorporated. |