Leonardo Da Vinci Contributions To Mathematics

1527 Words4 Pages

Leonardo da Vinci was an Italian Renaissance man that was born in 1452 and lived to 1519. He was a true renaissance man is regarded as one of the greatest minds of the renaissance era, displaying skills in numerous diverse areas of study. While he is most famous for his paintings such as the Mona Lisa and the Last Supper, Leonardo is also renowned in the fields of civil engineering, chemistry, geometry, mathematics, mechanical engineering, optics, and physics, Making his biggest contributions to mathematics and engineering through his amazing inventions. Leonardo da Vinci was very far ahead of his time which is why most of his inventions were not made practical until someone reinvented later in time, when technology caught up to his ideas. Leonardo da Vinci was one of the greatest mathematicians to ever live, which is displayed in all of his inventions. His main pursuit through mathematics was to better the understanding and exploration of the world. He preferred drawing geographical shapes to calculate equations and create his inventions, which enlisted his very profound artistic ability to articulate his blueprints. Leonardo Da Vinci believed that math is used to produce an outcome and thus Da Vinci thought that through his drawings he could execute his studies of proportional and spatial awareness demonstrated in his engineering designs and inventions. One of his greatest inventions to demonstrate his engineering and mathematic designs would be the parachute. Da Vinci’s parachute consisted of sealed linen cloth held open by a pyramid of even length wooden poles, about seven meters long. The creation required a great deal of math and physics to design the correct pole length and to carefully weave the cloth to the poles so th... ... middle of paper ... ... were to then be used in printing presses. The book was published in 1509 and is called Divina Proportione. It is said that the academics of Leonardo’s time did not take into consideration his work in any other field than painting, because he did not have a formal education. Instead he had developed an important attitude at a young age towards his critics, where he wrote “I cannot quote from eminent authors as they can, these trumpeters and reciters of the works of others. I know that all knowledge is vain and full of error when it is not born of experience, and so experience will be my mistress”. Leonardo da Vinci was a mysterious man who most definitely left his impact on the world, his time and modern time. A lot of people say Leonardo was a genius others say he was a complete mastermind who was ahead of his time, one thing for sure is that he was very talented.

Open Document