Leonardo da Vinci
The purpose of this paper is to introduce, discuss, and analyze the topic of Leonardo da Vinci and his work. Specifically it will discuss da Vinci's engineering and architectural designs, including his water, flying, and war apparatus, along with his architectural designs such as St. Paul's Cathedral. Many people think of da Vinci as a true "Renaissance Man," because his life personified the Renaissance ideals of the arts, education, and innovation. A true innovator, as well as an artist, inventor, engineer, and writer, da Vinci's interests led him to produce a vast assortment of innovations and ideas that educators and researchers are still studying and creating today. His inventions illustrate that he was an exceptional man with ideas far ahead of his time. He could imagine innovations that are the foundation for many modern technological advances, like the helicopter, the tank, and myriad others.
Many people do not know that da Vinci was also a skilled architect who helped design and build many different buildings. He visualized an "ideal city" in his mind, based on ideas of design and urban planning that were unheard of at his time. He imagined a geometric city that was surrounded by a connected series of canals.The canals would act as a means of transportation as well serve as a sewage system, which was unknown in this time and He also saw wide roads to help with traffic congestion. They would be as wide as the buildings were tall, to ensure the residents never had to endure streets clogged with traffic. The roads would be built on three different levels, with each level serving a singular purpose. Two Leonardo experts note, "Leonardo notes that carriages and other means of transport will travel only on the low level, gentlemen only on the upper level and 'foetid things' only on the underground level." He saw canals that would contain locks, just like the Panama Canal and other modern canals. These locks would help boats as they navigated the canals, and the canals would connect with the ocean, which would support trade with other countries. The locks would lower the boats, and that would allow them to literally travel underneath the streets and buildings of his "ideal city." Da Vinci designed his ideal city's scale to be integrated and geometric, creating a living space that was pleasing to the eye along with being functional. More importantly, he envisioned a city that was cleaner and more sanitary than any cities in Europe could possibly be at the time. His ideas never developed into a real ideal city, but they are still a model of urban planning that has many implications for planners in the modern world.
Da Vinci, along with urban planning, seemed to love designing bridges, and man of his engineering drawings included several different styles of bridges and other spans. Among his many designs were military bridges that soldiers could assemble and take apart quite quickly while they were on the move. These bridges would also float on water so they could cross them effectively. He thought of a double-decker bridge that surprisingly resembles many modern bridges across the world, and he drew up an arched bridge sturdy enough to support its own weight. In fact, one of da Vinci's most famous bridges was indeed constructed in 2001. It is the Galata Bridge, which da Vinci actually designed for Istanbul, Turkey. An engineering team recreated da Vinci's original design, but in 2001, instead of 1502 when he originally designed it.
In 1502, the Sultan of Turkey asked da Vinci to create a drawing for a bridge stretching from the Golden Horn to Galata to Istanbul. Leonardo fashioned a massive structure that was a single span, using many diverse design methods. They included elegant keystone arches and recognized geometric ideas, including the parabolic curve and pressed-bow. The Sultan, however, was never certain the bridge would actually stand, and da Vinci's bridge was never completed during his life. However, in 1952, researchers found da Vinci's drawings of the bridge, and in 1996, a Norwegian artist name Vebjørn Sand, "saw the drawing at an exhibition of Leonardo’s engineering designs. He was smitten by the grace and mathematical eloquence of the structure. Upon returning to Oslo, he proposed that the Norwegian Public Roads undertake the construction of the project." After that, a group formed; they were determined to redesign the original bridge to become a footbridge near Oslo, Norway. The group, called the Leonardo Bridge Project, constructed it in 2001, and now they are trying to build bridges like the Oslo bridge all around the world. Da Vinci's design is graceful, modern, and extremely viable even by today's standards. The Oslo bridge is constructed out of wood, while da Vinci's original design used stone, but the project's engineers are creating a stone model, too.As well as architecture and art, as we studied in the course, da Vinci was also known for being an extremely proficient inventors in many different areas and sciences. For some reason, he was fascinated with all things pertaining to war, from war machines to ideas for deterring invaders to keeping cities safe from attacks and harm. He developed an armored car that many people now think is the forerunner of the modern armored tank. Da Vinci's care was covered with substance like stone, and it had a structure like a cone that acted as what is now a turret for sighting the enemy. Inside were two cranks that turned wheels that would drive the armored car. In addition, "Leonardo’s armoured car contained many light cannons. These were arranged on a circular platform which was based on four wheels and provided a firing range of 360 degrees." Da Vinci's car was never completed, but many of his military ideas have developed into the modern war vehicles we use today, such as tanks, Hummers, and other armored trucks and cars.
While many of da Vinci's designs never came into fruition, many of his innovative weapons did develop into usable weapons, such as catapults, sling-shots, and crossbows. For example, "His quick-load catapult only had a short firing range, but this mattered little as guns then were slow loading and heavy. The catapult could be loaded quickly and, if necessary, left loaded in case of surprise attack." In addition, he created a huge crossbow that rode on six wheels. It would easily fire, and a series of gears propelled it around the battlefield. He also drew up other weapons, like rapid-fire cannons, chariots that were horse-drawn and carried scythes, diverse fortresses, and methods to keep cities safe by repelling invaders climbing city walls.
Da Vinci was also quite interest in manned flight, and that may be one area that people recognize today. It is important to remember that in da Vinci's day, there were no principles of aeronautics, so he had to develop them on his own. He started by studying how birds moved and their wing design, and later, he developed the ideas of an elevator and rudders, which would ultimately allow man to fly, just as da Vinci believed he could. Writer Annabell notes, "In 1487 he made drawings of a craft in which the pilot lay prone on a frame, his feet in stirrups. The motion of moving the feet together caused a downstroke from the wings. The upstroke was operated by a hand lever on the right front." Later, da Vinci created models that included crude blades that turned like screws, which many people believe is the first spark of an idea for the modern helicopter. Rumor has it that Igor Sikorsky, modern helicopter's inventor, investigated da Vinci's designs and they inspired him attempt to engineer the first helicopter.
At first, da Vinci thought flapping wings would work, but then he started to develop fixed-wing machines that used gears and pulleys to power them. They would have been almost impossible for a man to fly, but he continued to work on them throughout his life, refining them and altering his ideas until he came up with a design that was extraordinarily comparable to the Wright Brothers glider that made aviation history in 1903. Da Vinci's glider was a fixed-wing model, which he designed late in his career. Along with his aircraft, he also designed the world's first anemometer and barometer, which helped him calculate air pressure and wind speed, which are totally necessary to study flight.
Da Vinci's aircraft inventions also included a way of folding wings on his craft when they were not being used (similar to how a bird folds its wings), and retracting landing gear. Many of his ideas were complex and really not practical, but he believed man could fly when others thought he was crazy, and he was always looking for ways to improve and add to his diverse flying machine ideas.
Da Vinci was not only interested in flight, he was fascinated with bodies of water, too, especially how to navigate them. To match his armored car, he designed an armored boat, and he was the first one to think of and then design a ship with double hulls. That design is used in the huge oil tankers of today. He also created many different types of equipment for use in rivers, oceans, and other bodies of water, like water pumps and dredges. Along with that, he I invented a suit and diving gear for diving underwater. Another writer notes, "Other marvels include a revolving bridge, floats for walking on water, a visionary deep-sea diving suit, and the model of an ideal city. Would these 'machines' actually have worked? More often than not, they wouldn't have." That is an important consideration. Many of da Vinci's designs were not practical or perfect, but they were inventive and distinctive. More importantly, many of them, with alterations of course, could still be built today.
He was very fond of cranks, gears, and pulleys in his designs. He created a paddleboat that used a succession of cranks and a treadle for power. Da Vinci was extremely limited because he did not have power systems and engines like those that we have in the modern world. His designs had to utilize what he had available; mainly wind, water or human power, and so, many of his designs were strictly limited. When he designed watercraft, he often turned to the wind for power, or using paddles that used cranks, as with his paddleboat. He could visualize many diverse ways to maneuver and advance existing technologies of his time, but he could not imagine engines and other sources of power sources that we take for granted today, and that one area that does not show up in his forward-thinking designs.
In conclusion, da Vinci's designs and innovations were groundbreaking, forward-thinking, and obviously ahead of the time he lived. He created architecture, bridges and spans, war weapons, ships, and flying machines. While he never completed many of these designs, but they were saved in his papers, letters, notebooks, and drawings. He was an astonishing man with a remarkable mind, and as the projects developed currently show, quite a few of his drawing and designs are just as feasible today as when he created them in the 15th century.

Bibliography
Annabell, Maxine. "Catapults and Crossbows." Lairweb.org.nz. 2000. 31 Oct. 2009. . --. "Flying Machines." Lairweb.org.nz. 2000. 31 Oct. 2009. .
Editors. "The Leonardo Bridge Project." LeonardoBridgeProject.org. 2008. 31 Oct. 2009. .
Gani, Martin. "Leonardo Lives On," World and I Nov. 2002: 272.
Kemp, Martin and Wallace, Marina. "The Ideal City." Universal Leonardo. 2006. 31 Oct. 2009. . --. "Armoured Car." Universal Leonardo. 2006. 31 Oct. 2009. .