Leonardo Da Vinci and His thinking of 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.