Leonardo Da Vinci And Thomas Edison Comparison

Leonardo da Vinci Versus Thomas Edison

Although they lived over four hundred years apart in two completely distinct cultural periods, Leonardo da Vinci and Thomas Alva Edison can be considered the two most paramount inventors in human history due to their substantial contributions to society. To compare these two illustrious figures, it first must be deduced their specific achievements, such as da Vinci’s parachute or Edison’s phonograph, and their effect on civilization, being da Vinci’s inspiration of millions during the Renaissance and Edison’s benefaction to western modernization. Another important constituent that must be examined is each man’s respective eras and how it facilitated, or impeded, scholarly expansion. For instance, da Vinci lived in a pre-scientific age with diminutive technological headway while Edison lived in a more developed and sophisticated scientific time. Nevertheless, both special men were extraordinary thinkers whose

impact on the world constituted new stages of technological amelioration which cannot be understated.
Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci, born in Vinci, Italy in 1452, is undeniably the greatest scientific and advanced mind of the fifteenth century. His legacy began with an apprenticeship at the young age of fourteen, under the discipline of one of Italy’s greatest artists of the time, Andrea del Verrocchio. Verrocchio’s workshop, located at the center of bustling Florence, exposed young Leonardo to an education of humanities. It is at this time Leonardo begins his vocation for the fine arts, painting masterpieces for the next twenty years. After this time, in around 1485, Leonardo is admittedly fatigued from painting. At this time, Leonardo adopts the practice of engineering and design. His first, and perhaps most exceptional design, was a prototype of a modern parachute. Primitive parachutes pre-dating Leonardo’s have been mentioned in literature, including Chinese manuscripts from some sixteen centuries before his time, but none of which having evidence of use. Made of linen cloth held open by a pyramid of wooden poles, Leonardo recorded in his notebook that the parachute was successful. Other designs include a tank, a flying machine, a machine gun, and other civil constructs. These designs were never tested by Leonardo, but were extensively studied and inscribed in his notebooks. Although his designs can be considered radical and impractical, many of his blueprints laid the foundation for an abundance of modern machines. Leonardo also took on the endeavor of science in the late fifteenth century. Studying anatomy first under Verrocchio, Leonardo made arguably his biggest contribution to science in 1487, the Vitruvian Man. Accompanying the work of Vitruvius, a Roman author, the Vitruvian Man shows almost perfect dimensions and scaling of a human man. Leonardo also worked in the fields of botany, the study of plant life, and ornithology, or the study of birds. In 1505, Leonardo finished his “Codex on the Flight of Birds” which examined the flight behavior of birds and proposed mechanisms for the flight of humans. Leonardo was personally fascinated by the idea of flight for humans, which is evident by his work on a flying machine. Near the end of his life, Leonardo started painting again. It was at this time that he created his most famous painting, the Mona Lisa, or “La Gioconda,” in 1505. The Mona Lisa, said to be based off a Florentine merchant’s wife, changed how art was created and became a surrealist symbol. Leonardo additionally painted murals in famous buildings, such as the “The Last Supper” in the Santa Marie delle Grazie and the “Battle of Anghiari” in the Palazzo Vecchio, both of which are dedicated and prominent buildings in northern Italy. As Leonardo neared the end of his life, he spent most of his time in the Vatican City under Pope Julius the Second. Becoming good friends with the French King Francis I, he lived out his final days engaged in the King’s personal commissions, such as a mechanical lion. Leonardo and Francis I were such good friends that it is said that the King held da Vinci in his arms when he passed away. Leonardo’s influence extended far beyond his lifetime. Leonardo inspired and kindled an entire generation with scientific ideals and a value in the fine arts. Along with artists like Michelangelo, essential figures provoked the Renaissance in Italy. Based on Greek ideas from a millennium before, the Renaissance was a cultural and intellectual movement marking the beginning of the Early Modern Age. The sparking of this era led to massive amounts of scientific developments, including engineering, modern medicine, and early industrialism. This contribution from Leonardo is un-paralleled by nearly anyone in history and could nearly be credited for the vast amounts of technology in use today. Without the “Renaissance Man”, all technological and scientific advancements from the last five hundred years may have been delayed for many more years (McCurdy, p 19 – 26; "Leonardo Da Vinci Biography." Web).
Thomas Alva Edison, born in Milan, Ohio in 1847, became one of the most influential and quintessential American inventors and businessmen of the modern world. Beginning with a job for the Grand Trunk Railroad Corporation as a trainboy, Edison sold newspapers and candy to those among the North American states and the southern Canadian provinces at only the age of twelve. Edison eventually was promoted to a telegraph operator four years later in 1863. He left the Grand Trunk Railroad Corporation in 1868 to join the main Western Union office in Boston. It was at this time began work on the telegraph, becoming a telegraph operator and inventing numerous devices to improve the telegraph. Edison soon moves to New York City and creates a telegraph manufacturing company where he also conducts his inventive work. It was here that Edison fell in love with an employee, Mary Stillwell, and marries her in 1871. In the next few years to come Edison invents and patents several inventions, including the electric pen and quadruplex telegraph system. In 1876, Edison moves to Menlo Park, New Jersey to begin work on electricity and other exceedingly salient inventions, such as the carbon transmitter which is still used today in some modern telephones. A couple years later, Edison finalized his work with direct current electricity creating the carbon-filament lamp, which was demonstrated on New Year’s Eve to the public at his lab in Menlo Park. Throughout the 1880s, Edison and his newly hired staff develop and manufacture electric lighting systems throughout New York City with his new company, Edison General Electric. Unfortunately, in 1884, Edison’s wife Mary dies of typhoid, devastating him and halting his work on any inventions for around two years. Favorably, Edison finds love in Mina Miller, whom he marries and has three children with. Mina becomes Edison’s partner not only in life, but also in business. She handled domestic complications, such as dinner parties and public relations, to let Edison to what he does best: invent ("Mina Miller Edison: A Valuable Partner to Thomas Edison." Web). With Mina at his side, Edison moves his laboratory to West Orange, New Jersey. Battling a fellow inventor, Alexander Graham Bell, Edison invents perhaps his most famous and useful invention, the perfected phonograph. The perfected phonograph is essentially an early rendition of a record player, having sound reproduced through the use of cylinders. This was the beginning of recorded music and the basis for all speakers used in society. In 1892, Edison’s company, Edison General Electric, and Thomson-Houston Company merge to create one of the most famous and powerful of all modern companies, General Electric. At the turn of the century, General Electric created the first research-and-development laboratory, which worked closely in junction with Edison to create new advancements. The main and most crucial development was the alkaline storage battery, which was used for most commercial electronics. Regrettably, as the 20th century advanced, Edison’s health did not. For the next thirty years, Edison lacked the inventiveness that reigned in his midlife. Edison died on October 18th, 1931 in Llewellyn Park, New Jersey. The entire nation, illuminated by Edison’s greatest invention, turned off their lights for an hour to honor him on the day of his funeral. Edison’s influence on modern engineering and sciences were immediate. Edison’s invention of the incandescent lightbulb and commercial electricity had an immediate and lasting effect on modern society. Along with the convenience of interior lighting, electricity is used appliances, elevators, pumps, machinery, temperature control, and other commercial devices. This also led to advancements in hospitalization, transportation, and other infrastructures important to modern society. Edison’s contribution to modern science is unsurpassed by almost any other inventor, matched only by minds such as Nikola Tesla and Alexander Graham Bell. Without Edison’s inventions and contributions, modern electronics would not be as advanced as they are today (Canning, p 192 – 196; "American Experience: TV's Most-watched History Series." Web; "Thomas Edison – Changing Our World Forever." Web).
Leonardo da Vinci and Thomas Edison, although varying substantially, are undoubtedly two of the most crucial inventors and scientific minds in human history.

Even so, one factor separates the two and distinguishes da Vinci as the superior inventor: the yearning for knowledge. Leonardo studied what he did and accomplished what he did for the sole reason of learning. He overcame the scientific and technological limits of his time as well as the influence from government on Religion rather than natural sciences to advance his generation. Edison on the other hand accomplished what he did for a more practical purpose: monetary gain. Although drastically changing society, Edison used already existent technologies and simply innovated and perfected them. Leonardo had radical and new ideas that were un-matched by any existent records of the period. Therefore, albeit both were extremely important, Leonardo da Vinci is a more influential, admirable, and superior inventor and scientist than Thomas Alva Edison ("Sounding Board."

Web)