Leonardo Da Vinci Accomplishments

The Renaissance was a memorable time period that originated in Italy and took place between the 13th and 17th century. It was the considered the “rebirth” of the classical world. Mathematics, art, science, and engineering were widely studied throughout this time period. Leonardo da Vinci was a man who lived during the Renaissance and is well known for studying and excelling in a variety of topics. Leonardo da Vinci fits the definition of a true Renaissance man because of his accomplishments and contributions to the fields of mathematics, art, science and engineering. After beginning in Italy in the mid 1300s, the Renaissance then spread to other parts of Europe in the 1400s and 1500s. The Renaissance began with the rediscovery of the classical

Optics is the study of the eyes and da Vinci closely studied the eyes and also their connections to light. Da Vinci discovered many things within the study optics and light, such as, discovering that light changes how an object is seen (Reed 32/33). For example, the color of one object may be affected by the color of another object and then there is not one actual color. After doing a large amount of work involving optics and light, da Vinci formed a couple conclusions about the topics. One conclusion he made was, objects near the eye will appear larger than those at a distance. Another conclusion made by da Vinci was that objects seen with two eyes will appear rounder than if only seen by one eye (Reed 32). Along with da Vinci’s study of optics, he also took careful and precise scientific observations about various topics within science itself. In Leonardo’s notebooks, he wrote everything backwards which was called mirror writing (Edwards 60). In order to read his writing, the notebook would needed to be held up to a mirror. It is believed he did this so it would be more challenging for others to read and steal his ideas. Leonardo’s ideas were mainly theoretical explanations with specific detail and were rarely experimental (“Leonardo da Vinci Biography”). Da Vinci filled a total of about 13,000 notebook pages filled with his ideas.

As mentioned earlier, Leonardo was a man who preferred figuring things out on his own. So, when it came to engineering, da Vinci wanted to understand everything (Reed 45). Da Vinci broke down machines and studied every piece. After leaving Verrocchio’s art studio, da VInci began studying the basic principles of engineering. Leonardo then wrote a letter to the future Duke of Milan explaining briefly about his artistic abilities and mainly about his expertise as a military engineer (“Leonardo da Vinci Biography”). After sending the letter, da Vinci went on to work as a military engineer in Milan for seventeen years. When the deadly plague hit Milan, da Vinci used his talents as an engineer to plan city improvements (Kallen 49). He designed sketches of canals, water drainage, river dredging and more. Before, during, and after Leonardo’s time in Milan, he designed numerous inventions. The gadgets, tools, machines and other inventions he designed were centuries ahead of their time (Kallen 11). Along with his scientific theories and observations, da Vinci also filled his notebooks with sketches of all different designs created (Reed 38). Some inventions he designed include, the helicopter, submarine, parachute, scissors, tanks, the bicycle and tons more. Leonardo da Vinci made many contributions to engineering during his