NOTE TO TEACHERS:
Do not give the
students the article on the actual flight of the parachute
until after they have completed their inquiry booklet.
L e
o n a r d o d a V i n c i
Leonardo da Vinci was a Florentine artist, one
of the great masters of the High Renaissance who was also celebrated as a
painter, sculptor, architect, engineer, and scientist. His profound love of knowledge and research
was the keynote of both his artistic and scientific endeavors. His innovations
in the field of painting influenced the course of Italian art for more than a
century after his death, and his scientific studies—particularly in the fields
of anatomy, optics, hydraulics and flight—anticipated many of the developments
of modern science.
Leonardo was born on April
15, 1452, in Vinci, Italy, just outside Florence. As a boy he had access to
scholarly texts and was exposed to Vinci's longstanding painting tradition.
When he was 15 his father apprenticed him to the renowned workshop of Andrea del Verrochio in Florence. Even as
an apprentice, Leonardo demonstrated a talent that was so great that Verrochio allegedly resolved never to paint again.
From
1485 to 1490, Leonardo produced studies on many subjects, including nature,
flying machines, geometry, mechanics, municipal construction, canals and
architecture. Leonardo's interests were so broad that he usually failed to
finish what he started. This resulted in completing only six works of art in 17
years, including The Last Supper and The Virgin on the Rocks.
Between
1490 and 1495 Leonardo developed a habit of recording his studies in
meticulously illustrated notebooks. His work covered four main themes:
painting, architecture, the elements of mechanics, and human anatomy. These
studies and sketches were collected into various codices and manuscripts most
of which were written in mirror script. These documents are today high sought
after by museums as well as individual collectors (Bill Gates recently paid $30
million for the Codex Leicester).
In
1503, Leonardo began work on one of the most recognized paintings of all time Mona Lisa. It is not known exactly who Mona Lisa was,
but Leonardo’s painting has made her face famous. The painting hangs today in
the Louvre Museum in Paris, France. From 1514 to
1516, Leonardo worked in Rome, maintaining a workshop and undertaking a variety
of projects for the Pope Leo X. Toward the end of his career Leonardo went to
France to work for King Francis I. Leonardo died on May 2, 1519 in Cloux, France.
Leonardo da Vinci Sketches
Helicopter
Design
Glider Design
The Da Vinci Parachute
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eonardo
Da Vinci was proved right on Monday, June 26, 2000,
some 500 years after he sketched the design for the world's first known
parachute. A British man, Adrian Nicholas, dropped from a hot air balloon 3,000
meters (10,000 feet) above the ground, after ignoring expert advice that the
canvas and wood contraption would not fly. Attempts to fully test the parachute
in the UK earlier this year failed due problems of wind and safety near
populated areas - it weighs a hefty 85 kilograms (187 pounds). But in the wide
open spaces of Mpumalanga, South Africa, Mr. Nicholas
safely floated down, saying the ride was smoother than with modern parachutes. Heathcliff O'Malley, who photographed the drop from a
helicopter, told BBC News Online: "It was amazing, really beautiful. But
none of us knew if it would fold up and Adrian would plummet to Earth."
He added: "It works, and everyone thought it wouldn't."
Mr
Nicholas cut himself free when he reached 600m (2,000 ft) and deployed a second
modern parachute. This ensured the heavy device did not crash down on top of
him on landing. The parachute's great weight was due to the use of materials
that would have been available in medieval Milan, rather than modern fabrics.
Period tools were also used.
The original design was
sketched by Da Vinci in a notebook in 1483. An accompanying note read: "If
a man is provided with a length of gummed linen cloth with a length of 12 yards
on each side and 12 yards high, he can jump from any great height whatsoever
without injury." Mr. Nicholas said he thought Da Vinci would have been
pleased, even if the vindication of his idea came five centuries late.
