Leonardo da Vinci was an Italian Renaissance polymath whose areas of interest included invention, painting, sculpting, architecture, science, music, mathematics, engineering, literature, anatomy, geology, astronomy, botany, writing, history, and cartography. He has been variously called the father of paleontology, ichnology, and architecture, and is widely considered one of the greatest
painters of all time.
Sometimes
credited with the inventions of the parachute, helicopter and tank, he epitomized
the Renaissance humanist ideal.
Many
historians and scholars regard Leonardo as the prime exemplar of the "Universal Genius" or "Renaissance Man", an individual of
"unquenchable curiosity" and "feverishly inventive
imagination", and he is widely considered one of the most diversely
talented individuals ever to have lived. According to art historian Helen Gardner, the scope and depth of
his interests were without precedent in recorded history, and "his mind
and personality seem to us superhuman, while the man himself mysterious and
remote". Marco Rosci notes that while there is much speculation
regarding his life and personality, his view of the world was logical rather
than mysterious, and that the empirical methods he employed were unorthodox for
his time.
Leonardo's
approach to science was observational: he tried to understand a phenomenon by
describing and depicting it in utmost detail and did not emphasize experiments
or theoretical explanation. Since he lacked formal education in Latin and
mathematics, contemporary scholars mostly ignored Leonardo the scientist,
although he did teach himself Latin. In the 1490s he studied mathematics
under Luca Pacioli and
prepared a series of drawings of regular solids in a skeletal form to be
engraved as plates for Pacioli's book De divina
proportione, published in 1509
Comments
Leonardo da Vinci determined that the earth revolved around the sun 100
years before Galileo. He invented the “scientific method” of observation and
experimentation. He was a self-taught rebel with enormous curiosity and
precision. He read everything and surrounded himself with experts. He set the
direction for Galileo and Newton.
Norb
Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader
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