by Max Baseman

Created on: April 24, 2009   Last Updated: April 28, 2009

Leonardo Da Vinci had a major impact on both his world and the modern world. Leonardo's observations of science and nature were revolutionary in their time and have also heavily influenced modern science. His writings and notebooks filled with thoughts and ideas about the world and possible inventions have proved inspirational to people of all times. Leonardo's art, embodying the Renaissance, has maintained massive historical and artistic relevance to this day. In order to understand how Leonardo changed the world, it is vital to examine his scientific ideas and observation of reality.

Leonardo's massive contribution to science is still in use today by scientists in every field. Leonard "one hundred years before Galileo and Bacon... single-handedly developed a new empirical approach to science" using "systematic observation of nature, logical reasoning, and some mathematical formulations," now the "main characteristics of what is known today as the scientific method"(1). Leonardo "fully realized that he was breaking new ground," especially from the dark age mentality that Leonardo was born into(2). Leonardo was "gifted with exceptional powers of observation," he used these powers to "propo[se] [that] the earth rotates around the sun, propo[se] that the moon's light is reflected sunlight, [to] correctly expl[ain] why sea shells are sometimes found miles inland... and [to] [create] the first textbook of human anatomy" (3). Just as irrefutably unique and important as Leonardo's scientific contributions to the world are his writings and notebooks.

Leonardo Da Vinci's notebooks, diagraming the workings of his mind, have been highly inspirational and thought provoking to people in the modern world, as well as the world of the Renaissance. Leonardo's notebooks " show that he was a designer... way beyond his time. He drew his visions of the aeroplane, the helicopter, the parachute, the submarine and the car... more than 300 years before many of his ideas were improved upon." Eventually, the thoughts in Leonardo's notebooks interested the Duke of Milan, earning Leonardo a position as the Duke's engineer "outlining...ideas for weapons and fortifications"(4). Leonardo's notebooks "had many ideas for fortifications, bridges, weapons, and river diversions to flood the enemy"(5). Leonardo's thoughts have remained equally, if not more valuable in the modern world; a clear example of this is the purchases of the Codex Leicester, one of Da Vinci's surviving notebooks for 30.8

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