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

Leonardo the Engineer

Leonardo was a universal genius or, to be more exact a universal mind. This opinion is generally accepted, thanks to the enormous quantity of studies, drawings, drafts and notes of his that have come down to us. Though ingenuity and curiosity are a necessity for invention, experience and the observation form the basis of inductive methodology, in which Leonardo was a precursor of modern methods.

It is known that Leonardo entered the bottega of Verrocchio around 1470. Though Leonardo was naturally intelligent and creative, his schooling by the maestro provided his genius with a rational and ordered methodology. In the "workshops" of the time, apprentices explored many different fields of art and science including sculpture in marble and bronze, painting, the manipulation of metals, the working of wood and leather, hydraulic engineering, mathematics, the rudiments of architecture and so on. Verrocchio's studio was one of the most famous of the city and Verrocchio himself was a cultured man, at home in literary salons and personal friend of many great artists.

The desire to study and experiment all fields of knowledge was a characteristic of the "new" Renaissance artist, who constantly had to resolve practical and technical problems. The knowledge of mathematics, for example, was necessary to study engineering (itself needed to resolve many difficulties); Leonardo, in fact, was taught algorithm calculus by Verrocchio. He soon became known as a student capable of undertaking all types of work and, in 1478, was entrusted with designing a method whereby the Baptistery of Florence could be raised, without altering the original structure, to add a new base incorporating a flight of steps.

Our knowledge of Leonardo's early study and practice of engineering is scarce. He presumably read the principal treatises used at the time, including Valturius, Taccola and Francesco di Giorgio Martini. The first known technical drawings by Leonardo date from around 1482.This was the year that Leonardo went to Milan; his invitation by Ludovico Sforza, lord of the city, was principally due to his knowledge of sculpture and smelting; Leonardo also sent Ludovico a letter of presentation, preserved in the Ambrosiana's Codex Atlanticus, in which he describes his abilities as an engineer and, from this time on, the principal activities of this great Tuscan were the exploration of every facet of engineering.The celebrity of the famous "machines" devised, and built by Leonardo should not, however, be confused with the original paternity of these inventions. Many of the theories behind their conception were already known of in ancient Greece and were also studied by other engineers during the Renaissance. Leonardo's work must be considered in its entirety to understand its importance.

During the Middle Ages, man spent little time in explaining natural phenomena; the basis for scientific explanation was the divine order of the world. Man, created by God, considered himself superior to the rest of nature and this was enough to give a meaning to life. The objects used daily were produced "naturally" (though the materials used might be refined by man). The idea that man could invent or discover beyond what was already known was considered paradoxical for, if creation was a divine prerogative, then invention by man could only be a contradiction in terms or, at the worst, the work of the devil.

Leonardo's philosophy was in complete contrast to such an ordered and unchangeable view of the cosmos. Nature existed, in Leonardo's view, not only to be reproduced (e.g., in painting and sculpture), but to be observed, manipulated and improved. In this, he was profoundly influenced by the classical Greek writers, whose books - in the process of be rediscovered and translated during the Renaissance - precede Christianity and investigate all aspects of nature.

The religion of ancient Rome saw a different divinity behind every event, while Christianity viewed a single God as the mover of any human or natural event; Leonardo believed in a divine presence, but also in man's capabilities. He knew and understood the technical progress that had slowly taken place between 1000 and 1400: the compass, the wind-mill, the water-mill, the printing press and so forth. He did not trust any theory that he could not verify himself and rejected any hypothesis that could not be corroborated. Discoveries by others were analyzed and reproduced.

Leonardo's inventions were based on science and his enormous output in many different fields is, thus, not a surprise, a scientist at the time was obliged to scrutinize all spheres of knowledge known to man. Leonardo investigated human anatomy and mountain fossils, the flight of birds and artificial canals, grapevines and weapons of war. His fame derives from his rigorous methodological approach, but also from his excellent accomplishments as an artist.

Even those would denied to science the right to explain or imitate what was considered to be the divinity of creation, found it difficult to dismiss the artist of the Mona Lisa; it was, to a certain extent, his genius in art that rendered his genius in science credible and acceptable to his contemporaries. The recent invention of the printing press and the consequent spread of knowledge also served to spread his fame in a manner impossible in earlier times.

Leonardo is sometimes regarded as a mysterious soothsayer who foresaw airplanes and helicopters, tanks and divers, robots and industrial machinery. Nothing could be further from the truth: Leonardo was a scientist, whose inventions derived from his observations, and whose methods of work have been followed by those same programmers who, starting with two numbers (0 and 1), produce the software that permits this text to be read on a computer screen. It is no accident that the inventor of the operating system that we are now using has acquired a Codex of Leonardo, defeating the competition of museums and other collectors; he has obtained a throwback to the science of Leonardo, whose methodology is still at the basis of human achievement today.

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