Nikki Brush

Per. 2
Western Civ. Extra credit
Mr. Arnold
Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo da Vinci was an Italian prodigy, and was regarded as
the “Renaissance Man”. He displayed various skills in numerous areas
of study. His paintings such as the Mona Lisa and the Last Supper are
very famous around the world. However, he was also renowned as a
brilliant engineer, scientist, and inventor besides being gifted in the
arts. His areas of study included aeronautics, anatomy, astronomy,
botany, cartography, civil engineering, chemistry, geology,
hydrodynamics, mathematics, mechanical engineering, psychics,
optics, pyrotechnics, and zoology. Leonardo da Vinci was significant to
Renaissance thinking, because of his advanced knowledge in
engineering, science and art, and as an inventor.
Da Vinci was a talented engineer. For instance, he utilized levers,
pulleys, and wheels to create machines. One machine was called the
hydraulic machine which utilized the force of water to be carried out
safer and more efficiently out of mines and through mountain tunnels.
Also by utilizing the basic tools in machines, he made designs in mills
and factories: machines and engines that could be generated by water
power, making function easier and efficient. War machines, such as the
first tank, were powered by two men inside the tank cranking shafts.
Another invention was the enormous crossbow, which proved to be
almost a success in war machines.
Leonardo was also very brilliant in observing science and art. In
his journal, he kept diagrams and sketches of the human body,
including anatomical proportions, muscles, bones, and organs. He also
researched pregnancies, and the fetus developing in the womb of the
mother. Nature was also another passion in science, and he observed
countless animals and plants in their environment. He studied the
flight of birds, and learned about wind and air motion. In art, he was
very talented in finding the right light sources, making three
dimensional images from a two dimensional surface. He utilized
perspective in all of his pieces, which made them more appealing. His
famous pieces include The Lady with an Ermine, Mona Lisa, and The
Virgin of the Rocks. Numerous self portraits and countless sketches
were made, and were extremely detailed and exquisite.
As an inventor, da Vinci was a marvel. He created a machine that
ground up convex lenses, and bridges. The first diving suit was his
idea, which had contained water proof pigskin as the suit, and a
bamboo stick for breathing tubes. One of his most influential was the
first flying machines such as the helicopter, and parachutes and hang
gliders based on a bat’s wing structure. The first bowed keyboard
instrument was the first to ever be devised, called the viola organista.
Rotors and a looping bow powered the machine, as well as its strings.
Leonardo was significant to history because his brilliances led to
modern works in the future. Without his contributions, these pieces
would not have ever existed. He pushed the limits of observation and
created ideas that were works of a genius. Thanks to him, history and
humanity as we know it, have been highly influenced to change.