ALPHA 3rd Grade- da Vinci
  • da Vinci
    • da Vinci Biography
    • da Vinci Facts
    • da Vinci's Achievements
    • Breaking the Codex
  • Research
    • Leonardo's Studio
    • Contributions to Science/Physics
    • Science/Physics
    • Contributions to Engineering
    • Contributions to Art >
      • Mona Lisa
      • More Mona Lisa
    • Contributions to Architecture
    • Architecture
    • Contributions to Math
    • Math
    • Contributions in Optics
    • Contributions to Natural History
    • Inventor's Workshop
    • Leonardo's Perspective
    • What, Where, When?
    • Left to Right
    • Turning the Pages
    • Size and Distance
    • Linear Perspective
    • Aerial Perspective
    • Gadget Anatomy
  • Video Links
    • da Vinci-Renaissance Man
    • da Vinci the Painter
    • da Vinci's Inventions
    • The Art of da Vinci
  • Flying Machines
    • Homemade Flying Machine Competition
    • Flying Machine Challenge
    • Codex on the Flying Birds
    • Air Screw
    • Beating Wing
    • Articulated Wing
    • Flying Ship
    • Glider
    • Parachute
  • Games
    • Time Warp Trio Adventures
    • da Vinci Themes
    • da Vinci for Kids

       Contributions to Natural History

Wherever Leonardo probed the phenomena of nature, he recognized the existence of primal mechanical forces that govern the shape and function of the universe. This is seen in his studies of the flight of birds, in which his youthful idea of the feasibility of a flying apparatus took shape and that led to exhaustive research into the element of air; in his studies of water, the vetturale della natura (“conveyor of nature”), in which he was as much concerned with the physical properties of water as with its laws of motion and currents; in his research on the laws of growth of plants and trees, as well as the geologic structure of earth and hill formations; and finally in his observation of air currents, which evoked the image of the flame of a candle or the picture of a wisp of cloud and smoke. In his drawings based on the numerous experiments he undertook, Leonardo found a stylized form of representation that was uniquely his own, especially in his studies of whirlpools. He managed to break down a phenomenon into its component parts—the traces of water or eddies of the whirlpool—yet at the same time preserve the total picture, creating both an analytic and a synthetic vision.



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