Leonardo Da Vinci, the name evokes a kind of observance from the listener that no other name in history can command. What incredible tale of genius will follow, imagines the attentive listener.
Da Vinci was born in 1452 in the Republic of Florence, now Italy. Leonardo was the illegitimate son of a notary named Ser Piero Da
Vinci and a peasant girl named Caterina. Although the couple never married each other, they gave Leonardo 17 half sisters and brothers from relationships with other people.
Leonardo grew up in his father's home, where he had access to many scholarly texts. He was trained in the art of painting. At 15 years of age he was apprenticed to an artist in Florence
and began to prove himself a talented artist.
It is widely believed that Da Vinci had suffered from dyslexia. When writing and sketching out his ideas for his inventions he often wrote in mirror image. This is
a fairly common occurrence among left handed dyslexics. His spelling was also somewhat unconventional. Da Vinci's wild imagination led him to begin many more projects than he could ever complete. In spite of these handicaps, Leonardo's drawings were detailed and precise.
In 1477, at age 25, Leonardo set up shop on his own. As with a number of great thinkers many of
his works were not appreciated for years. Da Vinci came to be employed as the court artist for the duke of Milan. Over the years
he served in many other capacities. He was a civil engineer, an architect, a military planner, and weapons designer.
Aside from the many great works of art like the "Mona Lisa" and "The Last Supper" some of Da Vinci's most inspiring works included:
Compasses
Contact Lenses
Military Weapons
Flying Machines
Submarines
Floatation Devices
Swimming Fins
Pumping Machines
Water Turbines
Dredging Systems
Bridges
Canals
Parachutes
Surveying Instruments
Cranes
Pulley Systems
Mechanical Saws
Da Vinci was a true renaissance man and may have been the greatest
contributor to science, engineering, mathematics, art, architecture, and
philosophy the world has ever known. He died on May 2, 1519 in Cloux,
France, age 67.