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Leonardo da Vinci

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Italian Painter, Scientist, and Mathematician 1452–1519

Leonardo da Vinci was born in the Italian town of Vinci. As a young boy, he showed a talent for painting. When he was 20 years old, he joined the painters' guild in Florence. Within a few years, Leonardo's talent was known all across Europe. Although he completed only thirty paintings, two of them—the Mona Lisa and The Last Supper—are among the most easily recognized paintings of all time.

Leonardo was more than a painter: He was a scientist and mathematician who explored botany, mechanics, astronomy, physics, biology, and optics. Leonardo developed prototypes of the modern helicopter, submarine, and parachute, and he attributed his scientific discoveries to mathematics. He wrote, "There is no certainty in science where mathematics cannot be applied."

Although Leonardo dabbled in different areas of mathematics, geometry was his chief focus. He discovered a proof of the Pythagorean theorem, dissected various geometric figures, and illustrated a book about geometry and art. At one point in Leonardo's life, a friend of his noted that "his mathematics experiments have distracted him so much from his painting that he can no longer stand his paint brush."

During the last three years of his life, Leonardo was a guest of Francois I, King of France. The king hoped Leonardo would produce some masterpieces for the royal court. He never did. Leonardo finished a few paintings he had already started and spent the rest of his time making scientific explorations. He died in Amboise, France.

Arthur V. Johnson II

Bibliography

Boyer, Carl B. History of Mathematics. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1968.

Johnson, Art. Classic Math: History Topics for the Classroom. Palo Alto, CA: Dale Seymour Publications, 1994.

Internet Resources

MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive. University of St Andrews. <http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Mathematicians.html>.

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LEONARDO'S ROBOT

In 1495 Leonardo da Vinci designed a mechanical man capable of movement similar to humans'. Looking like a suit of armor, its inner workings are complete with pulleys, cables, and gears to make it move like the bones and muscles in the human body.

Using the principles behind Leonardo's mechanical man, modern-day engineers have manufactured a new type of robot—the anthrobot. More human-like than other types of mechanical robots, anthrobots have greater flexibility, dexterity, and motion. The human-like movements of the anthrobot have made it an ideal choice for NASA's space exploration program and the construction of a space station.

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