Leonardo da Vinci is known as a great Italian
artist of the
Renaissance, and also as a brilliant scientist, architect, and
inventor. He lived in Florence, Rome, and other European cities
during his life, and created such famous paintings as the "Mona
Lisa." But Leonardo had other interests: the human body's inner
workings, the building of bridges and highways, and how humans
could achieve flight. He explored almost every field of science,
did experiments, and designed machines well before their time --a
helicopter, a flying machine, and a machine gun--all in the 15th
and 16th centuries. Leonardo left 7,000 pages of notes on his
scientific endeavors, research on rocks, water, light, animals,
plants, and human anatomy.
Leonardo's skill included arranging festivals and staging large
theatrical productions. His last words were, "I have offended God
and mankind because my work did not reach the quality it should
have."