Leonardo da Vinci. Leonardo is revered for his technological ingenuity.
He conceptualised flying machines, an armoured vehicle, concentrated solar power, an adding machine,[7] and the double hull, also outlining a rudimentary theory of plate tectonics. Relatively few of his designs were constructed or were even feasible during his lifetime,[nb 2] but some of his smaller inventions, such as an automated bobbin winder and a machine for testing the tensile strength of wire, entered the world of manufacturing unheralded. [nb 3] He made substantial discoveries in anatomy, civil engineering, optics, and hydrodynamics, but he did not publish his findings and they had no direct influence on later science.[8] Life. Leonardo da Vinci. The drawings of Leonardo da Vinci.
A multimedia web-book about art: discussing Leonardo. Speaker: Dr.
David Drogin The heavens often rain down the richest gifts on human beings, but sometimes they bestow with lavish abundance upon a single individual beauty, grace and ability, so that whatever he does, every action is so divine that he distances all other men, and clearly displays how his greatness is a gift of God and not an acquirement of human art. Men saw this in Leonardo. (Vasari, on Leonardo)Leonardo's Early Life & TrainingLeonardo was born illegitimate to a prominent Tuscan family of potters and notaries. He may have traveled from Vinci to Florence where his father worked for several powerful families including the Medici.