Picture of Leonardo DaVinci
The Bettmann Archive

Leonardo da Vinci

Leonardo da Vinci was an Italian artist and scientist who lived between 1452-1519. Leonardo was the archetypical Renaissance man, whose roles included inventor, engineer, architect, mathematician, geologist, and astronomer.

While he is best known as the painter of the "Mona Lisa" and "The Last Supper," Leonardo primarily worked for the military. He drew conceptual sketches of tanks, airplanes and submarines hundreds of years before such war machines were created. He understood the notion of inertia, that the moon shone by reflecting light, and that perpetual motion was impossible. Leonardo also performed dissections of the human body and created drawings of bones and muscles that are still used today in medical schools.


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