Leonardo Da Vinci was born in the Tuscan town of Vinci, the illegitimate son of a local lawyer. He was apprenticed as a painter in Florence before eventually becoming a 'master' in his own right. In 1482 he moved to Milan, having offered his services to the Duke of Milan as an engineer, sculptor and architect. He became chief military engineer, a position he would hold for seventeen years.
Da Vinci is most famous now for his inventions: his bicycle, airplane, helicopter, and parachute were all some 500 years ahead of their time. However, he also showed remarkable insight in the world of science. The only remains of this work are his notebooks, now among the most valuable documents in the world. The thousands of surviving pages reveal the most eclectic of minds. He wrote and drew about subjects including geology, anatomy, flight, gravity and optics, often flitting from subject to subject on a single page in his left-handed mirror script. His writings are widely regarded as preliminary stages of works destined for publication, but never completed.…
