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Leonardo

da Vinci

One of the most intelligent people ever to have lived,
Leonardo da Vinci is famous for the amazing breadth of
his interests. Primarily a painter of extraordinary skill,
he became fascinated by the human body and pioneered
the science of anatomy. He also became a practical
The Mona Lisa is thought to be a portrait of the wife engineer and inventor, dreaming up all kinds of
of a wealthy silk merchant from Florence.
astonishing devices that were way ahead of their time.

Amazing artist
Leonardo was born near Florence, Italy,
in 1452. When he was 15, his father sent Visionary engineer
him to work as an apprentice for the In 1482, Leonardo got a well-paid job with
Florentine painter Andrea del Verrochio. the duke of Milan by describing himself as
He soon became a superbly realistic a military engineer. Luckily he was much
painter of human figures, partly because more talented than most engineers of the
of his interest in anatomy. He worked very time. He was interested in water power
slowly, and during the late 1400s, he and came up with many devices driven by
completed only six paintings in 17 years. water wheels. Later, he proposed a bridge
His most famous painting is the Mona Lisa, across the Gulf of Istanbul, which would
probably painted in around 1505.
have been the longest single-span bridge
in the world, but it was never built.

l
ed
ec
p
his
unfinished,
ef
roj
most
ro
of
eft
ft
ft
oj
L eo n a rd o left m o s t o f h i s projects u n fi n i s h ed , and
cts
t
ts
eo
eonardo
n
Leonardo left most of his projects unfinished, and d
ect
rd
a
e
tt
o
tt
fer
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rom
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tt
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red
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ere
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ed
s
ff
ff
suffered
o
s
efi
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i
deficit
s
sible
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it i
t
it is possible that he suffered from attention deficit
s
efi
i
c
is
h
f
t
that
fr
t
e
n
a
ro
t
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fr
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ro
problem
p
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psychological
i
s
d
disorder (ADD)—a psychological problem that
disorder
o
er
(ADD)—a
er
rd
rd
c
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o
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ed
i
n
fi
y
ed
h
a
e
has only recently been identified. This Leonardo drawing shows a weapon for hurling
e
o
n
.
s
t
d
l
e
y
t
i
n
n
e
b
rec
re
ec
stones—a bombard—powered by a water wheel.
Ahead of his time
Many of Leonardo’s inventions were
objects that could not be made at the
rd
Today, Leonardo’s
eo
time but have since become a reality. To To d a y , L eo n a rd o ’ s
He devised a form of parachute, a glider,
g
n
p
i
i
t
n
a
n
a
ve
n
e
d
ve
s
—
a type of bicycle, a life jacket to keep a paintings—and even
person afloat, an underwater breathing
dra
re
ra
his drawings—are
device, weapons that could be used to h i s dr w i n g s — a re
attack ships from underwater, and an among the most
g
n
m
t
h
t
e
s
o
a
o
m
“unsinkable” double-hulled ship. He
d
h
rl
rl
e
wo
wo
t
b
va va
l
a
u
l
i
n
e
even came up with this pioneering valuable in the world. .
concept for a helicopter (left).
This helicopter of Leonardo’s would not have worked,
although his notes suggest that he did build flying models.
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