Leonardo da Vinci (b. 1452, Vinci, d. 1519)

Leonardo and Water

Hydrology was one of Leonardo's favorite fields of interest; since his youth he had been impressed by the complex motion of water and fascinated by the possibility of modifying this movement to fulfil to benefit man. Leonardo studied watercourses, riverbeds and currents in great depth; he was the first to correctly observe and understand the cause and effect of the different velocities of flow at the center and banks of a water channel.

Leonardo's studies of hydrology were not abstract and theoretical, but were intended to provide him with a practical basis of knowledge which could be subsequently utilized. He did not limit himself to an attentive observation of nature, but simulated his results with models specifically constructed for this purpose. To examine the flow of water, for example, he constructed canals with glass banks; the use of coloured water permitted him to easily gauge the effects of his experiments; he utilized similar methods to study waterfalls and whirlpools. "My work," Leonardo wrote more than once, "is similar to that of the physician, who studies pathology to prevent illness."

Leonardo also studied hydraulic engineering, a more circumscribed field, where is was simpler to take measurements and transform the results into mathematical formulae. His minute examinations of waterfalls and whirlpools permitted him to propose new solutions regarding the movement of water-mills and the design of their blades. Leonardo's many achievements in this field include the following:

Reclamation of the Lomellina and the building of canals in the province of Novara;
Project of dams and locks on the river Isonzo to flood the approaches to Venice in the case of a Turkish invasion (1499);
Design for the port of Cesena (1502);
Diversion of the Arno (1503-06) to render it navigable and the control the floods and reclamation of the marshes;
Construction of piers in Genoa harbour;
Study for draining the marshes near Piombino;
Regulation of the river Adda (during his second Milanese sojourn) to supply the Martesana canal with water;
Drainage of the Pontine marshes near Rome, achieved by diverting the Portatore and Amaseno rivers into a canal parallel to the Via Appia (1513);
Regulation of the canal that joins the river Loire to Tours (1516) and drainage of the marshes at Sologne.

[ Leonardo in Florence ]
[ His Years in Milan ]
[ His Roman Sojourn ]
[ Leonardo in France ]
[ Flight and Freedom ]
[ Leonardo the Engineer ]
...[ Leonardo and Warcraft ]
...[ The Art of War ]
...[ Entertainments ]
...[ Mechanics ]
[ The Portrait of Mona Lisa ]