Leonardo da vinci and His thinking of flying - The imagination of scientist becomes innovation and Flying
Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo da Vinci was the son of a lawyer in Empoli, a town
between Florence and Pisa. Da Vinci’s engaging manners won him entry into the
courts of Milan, Florence, Rome and even France. He was a great painter and
sculptor. Above all, he was the first scientist who freed his thoughts from the
erroneous ideas of the Middle Ages.
His study of nature was remarkably modern in spirit. He designed
models for flying machines, parachutes and guns. He drew more than 750
anatomical drawings, which rank him among the greatest anatomists in the world.
Leonardo da Vinci |
Many of his opinions though could not be scientifically
demonstrated by him at that age, show his scientific insight. For example, in
physiology, he anticipated Harvey’s theory of the circulation of blood. In astronomy, he emphasized the heliocentric world. He anticipated Newton by suggesting that
the whole universe conforms to unalterable mechanical laws.
No doubt all these were his guesswork. However, they show his
great genius, for his guesses were proved by experiments by later scholars. Da Vinci’s
views did not influence the contemporary development of sciences. In fact, his
ideas did not receive much publicity. In a way, he was lucky for this. Otherwise, he might have been persecuted or even burnt at stake, as was Bruno a century
later.
Astronomers of the Renaissance and the fall of
the Aristotelian universe
The first astronomers were the Neolithic shepherds who
watched their flocks by night and wondered at the bright stars. Around 3000
B.C. the Chaldeans and Egyptians studied the skies. But it was Thales who
placed astronomy on a really scientific basis. He took it out of the operation of
demons and gods and drew star maps. Greece produced many great astronomers.
Yet for nearly 2000 years man considered the solid earth as
the centre of the universe, and the sun, the planets and the stars revolved around
it. As against these opinions, the Pythagorean School had taught that the earth rounded
on its own axis. One of the Pythagoreans, namely Aristarchus of Samos held that
the sun and not the earth were the centre and hub of the universe.
Though the geocentric system of Aristotle and Ptolemy had
prevailed, the rival grand scheme of the heliocentric system of Pythagoreans was
not forgotten. It was preserved in the writings of the Latin compilers. Finally, it was revived in the Renaissance period by Copernicus, followed by Tycho
Brahe, Kepler, and Galileo: they paved the way for Isaac Newton to
revolutionize the entire course of astronomy with his law of gravitation.
Leonardo da vinci and His thinking of flying - The imagination of scientist becomes innovation and Flying
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November 02, 2019
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