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Leonard Da Vinci was skilled at observation, studying anatomy, geology, mechanics, art, music and more. His notes and drawings were kept in folios of papers called 'the Codices'. This have been distributed in many places, Paris, London, Milan, Paris, and even Bellingham, WA, USA. There, Bill Gates owns 36 pages mostly on hydraulics and the study of the movement of water while the Queen of England owns those devoted to drawings of and studies of horses. Milan holds most of the codices In Milan, there is an exhibition of mechanical models constructed from Da Vinci's designs contained in the Codices. |
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Each thumbnail is a link to a larger graphic.
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Da Vinci studied the anatmony of birds as well as their flight to arrive at the design for flying machines. Some were wings (right) and others machines (left) which took into account the limitations of men who were to fly them. The first on the left is a helicopter. |
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This is a design and its model for cutting canal banks. Da Vinci also designed the paths for canals in Northern Italy from Venice to Florence, so this was a proposed practical tool. |  |
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Wars never cease and rapid fire was the invention of the day. This is a machine-canon which was designed to fire one shell after another: eight in all before reloading. |  |
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A design for cutting logs into planks using a water wheel as power has here been converted into a model. |  |
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This model shows a barrage roadway which can be tucked into the bank for shipping to pass and then swung out to span the canal for road traffic. | |
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Da Vinci's study of anatomy involved also the study of cadavers; the intracies of joints, muscles and tendons. This page from the Codices shows the details of legs together with a description of what each diagram portrayed. |  |
| Another page of the Codices showing details of the human anatomy. From these detailed studies Da Vinci's human proportions were derived. The "Proportions" (left) now form the reverse of the Italian Euro coins. Drawings by Leonardo Da Vinci of Milan, Italy. |
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