Leonardo da Vinci: The 3 Ways His Inventions Changed History

Born	15th of April, 1452
Died	2nd of May, 1519
Famous Quote	“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication”
Known For	Artist, inventor, scientist, engineer
Region of World	Italy, 15th century

Of all the inventors throughout history few are as well known as Leonardo da Vinci. His inventions were almost five centuries ahead of their time. Today we remember Leonarda da Vinci for the 3 ways his inventions forever changed history.

There are 3 ways Leonardo da Vinci’s inventions changed history. First, Leonardo was one of the first artists to invent the concept of anamorphosis within art. Second, his engineering inventions forever changed history. Third, Leonardo da Vinci’s inventions and experiments radically advanced several fields of science.

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Without further ado, here are the 3 ways Leonardo da Vinci’s inventions changed history.

Leonardo da Vinci Helped To Invent Anamorphosis or Perspective Within Renaissance Art

One of the major ways in which Leonardo da Vinci’s inventions forever changed history was his use of anamorphosis or perspective within art.

Anamorphosis is simply a trick used by artists to add depth to a piece of art. For example, one way this is done is by adding a tilted background to a painting to trick the human eye to see a 3d image.

Before Leonardo much of the art of the world was created to resemble a 2D surface. This style of art forced all characters to be on the same plane and as a result the art looked flat.

An example of this ‘flat’ type of medieval art can be seen below in the 14th century The Effects of Good Government.

Notice how there is no perspective within the painting. It’s almost as if each building and person only exists in a 2D world. There is no distance to the painting.

Medieval paintings were constructed using this flat technique primarily because it allowed the vertical scale of objects to be presented. In Medieval paintings vertical scale was used to demonstrate authority in society. For example, a King would be drawn to be almost double the height of his subjects.

Now if we look at one of Leonardo’s early paintings we can see the use of anamorphosis and perspective.

Notice how there is distance within the painting. When you look at each of the characters it appears that they are closer to you than the background. This was an invention of Leonardo da Vinci.

This invention of perspective and anamorphosis within art by Leonardo da Vinci forever changed art. Our modern world would be both painted and photographed completely different if it were not for Leonardo’s invention.

Today we remember Leondardo da Vinci’s use of perspective and anamorphosis as one of his main inventions that forever changed history.

Leonardo da Vinci’s Engineering Inventions Forever Changed History

One of the primary ways in which Leonardo da Vinci’s inventions forever changed history was through his engineering experiments.

Leonardo was about 500 years ahead of his time. He spent the majority of his life building and experimenting with objects around Italy. He would document his findings in his notebooks and refine his approach.

Out of this came his engineering inventions. At the time the people of Italy were fascinated by Leonardo’s inventions, they were like nothing they had ever seen.

Today however when we look through Leonardo da Vinci’s notebooks we see machines that resemble advanced machines of today. Examples of this can be seen in a primitive helicopter, parachute, tank, machine gun, airplane, modern maps, and magnifying glasses.

Each page of Leonardo da Vinci’s notebooks contain objects and machines that would go on to forever change history. In October of 1515 King Francis I of France captured Milan. Leonardo at that point would enter the service of King Francis and help to build several amazing machines.

One such example of Lenoardo’s successful inventions can be seen in the creation of the Mechanical Lion. This machine was created to slowly approach King Francis and upon being struck with a wand open up its chest to show flowers.

Today billions of people worldwide are impacted by Leonardo da Vinci’s inventions. His inventions on flight and mechanical transportation have forever changed history.

Leonardo da Vinci’s Experiments and Inventions Radically Advanced Several Fields of Science

One of the main ways in which Leonardo da Vinci’s inventions forever changed history was by advancing the fields of science.

Leonardo was known to continuously experiment and improve his work. He would become fascinated with the pursuit of knowledge and spend the entirety of his life performing experiments and creating inventions to learn more.

One field in which Leonardo da Vinci’s inventions furthered knowledge was human anatomy. Leonardo while under his apprenticeship to the doctor Verrocchio would write over 13,000 words on the human body along with several drawings.

Out of these drawings Leonardo da Vinci became the world’s leading expert in topographical anatomy or the drawing of human body parts for scientific purposes. Leonardo would invent and experiment in effort to pursue further knowledge surrounding the human body. Today all doctors have benefited from Leonardo’s inventions and experiments.

Another field in which Leonardo’s inventions changed history is Geology and Hydrology. Leonardo was fascinated with the power of running water and how the earth reacted.

From this Leonardo would go onto invent accurate maps and invent water dykes to protect cities from floods and invaders. This forever changed history as modern cities in flood zones utilize the same inventions of Leonardo over 500 years ago.

Today the inventions and experiments of Leonardo da Vinci have forever changed history by advancing the scientific fields. It is doubtful that our history would look the same without this renaissance man of Italy.

Conclusion

There you have it; an entire article that goes over the 3 ways Leonardo da Vinci’s inventions changed history.

Leonardo would die in 1519 in the Kingdom of France. So revered was he that it is rumored that at the time of his death the King of France wept and held Leonardo realizing that he had lost one of the worlds greatest minds.

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Further, you can check out some of the other articles below. 

Until next time,

Nick