Do not respond to this until your class section has viewed the Da Vinci video.
Is there a modern day Da Vinci? Can you think of anyone in our time who may be looked upon in the same light centuries down the road? If so, who and why? If not, why not?
Due Wednesday 9/21.
48 comments:
After viewing the documentary on the life and inventions of Leonardo Da Vinci, I don’t believe that there are people in modern times that resemble him intellectually. Few people could ever match the genius that was Leonardo Da Vinci. The incredible amount of information studied and tested by Da Vinci is unmatched anywhere in the rest of history.
Leonardo Da Vinci was more than just an Artist. He was an Engineer, a Botanist, a Chemist, and many more. His fields of study included Anatomy, Flight, Art, and countless others. Leonardo wasn’t years ahead of his time, he was centuries ahead. Many of Leonardo’s designs, especially those involving flight, included elements that have only been discovered and proven in the past few decades. For example, his design for a personal glider included a wing shape that scientists today know maximizes lift. At that time, for Leonardo to know that was astounding. This was only one of many things that Leonardo knew centuries before modern day scientists.
In his study of anatomy, Leonardo made amazing discoveries. His study of the Human heart made finds such as the pattern of the circulation of blood through heart valves. Leonardo discovered these vortices and decided to test his discovery. He designed an experiment following the scientific method and proved his finds were valid. His drawings of these valves are also stunningly similar to the real valves themselves. Leonardo’s study of the human body was so far ahead of his time that it was proclaimed both Heresy and Necromancy by the Catholic Church, who didn’t understand his research.
In Summation, Leonardo Da Vinci’s intelligence is unmatched by any other mind in history or in present day society. His discoveries were centuries ahead of his time, and his research has led to many of the inventions in use today. The mind of Leonardo Da Vinci was so advanced that he was told to stop conducting his research. The people of his time didn’t see him as the genius that he was, but it’s obvious to anyone today that he was far more intelligent than he was given credit for in his time.
Maggie Kulpa
To say the someone could possibly be a modern day Da Vinci would not only mean that they must understand art, but also have a vastly intellectual mind. One must link these two key aspects of art and science to create sculptures and ideas beyond their time periods.
One man does resemble Da Vinci both intellectually and artistically. This man is Theo Jansen. Jansen studied science at the University of Delft in Holland. Although he studied science he was also interested in art, mostly painting at the time. After graduating from the University Jansen went on to make a flying saucer, which did in fact fly. This saucer, however was not his greatest intellectual and art achievement. Just like Da Vinci, he has had multiple.
Jansen's most well known invention, while it may not be practical in human's everyday life has set a standard for others to come. He has built a beach animal ,made entirely out of commonly used items like plastic tubing, hoses, cardboard boxes, and other materials. These animals are not only a piece of science, but art as well. They range from creatures with many legs, to winged animals that flap their wings with the wind. The advancement that Jansen has made with the animals is beyond the intellectual values of this century. Just like, Da Vinci had done in his time.
Jansen, like Da Vinci, has taken art and science and put them together. However, he has done much more to be considered a modern day Da Vinci. He has made advancements in both fields and has set a standard for other inventions and pieces of art to come, just as Da Vinci did.
Although there is no true saying whether or not he will be considered a Da Vinci of our time, I believe the Jansen has made the advancements that Da Vinci had and could be considered as a "modern day Da Vinci".
Leonardo Da Vinci was a master of art, science, math, architecture, sculpture, and so on. From the documentary our class watched in class it was visible that Leonardo Da Vinci was way ahead of his time. Although there are millions of educated and wise and talented people in the world today, there are none who can compare to Leonardo Da Vinci. There are many people who have influenced our world today, but I can’t think of anyone who will be as admired five hundred years from now as Leonardo Da Vinci has been.
Leonardo Da Vinci created anatomical drawings that were remarkably accurate to the human body. He used painting techniques that had never been used before, including making the people look as real as possible. To do this he studied the muscles in the face to get a precise and detailed painting, as seen in the Mona Lisa. In Da Vinci’s notebooks sketches were found of Leonardo’s ideas of flying contraptions. Although the first successful flight of a flying device was by the Wright Brothers in 1903, Da Vinci’s drawings from the Renaissance five hundred years earlier were just as accurate and successful. Based on his observations of nature, Leonardo found that the vortex pattern was common in the wind and water, from this he also predicted that this was how blood flowed throughout the body. Years later when technology had advanced they found that his prediction was correct. Scientists also found that his predictions of the aortic valve transplant were correct.
Today there are many people who have been successful and will definitely be admired in the future. Bill Gates for example was responsible for the computer revolution. President Barack Obama will probably be credited for his philosophies and becoming the first African-American president of the United States. Doctors who have advanced in medical research will be accredited and admired.
Although these people have changed the shape of our world and the way we live there isn’t one person who can be compared to Leonardo Da Vinci. His advances in all subjects of life will leave lasting impression forever. There has not been a person as creative, imaginative, or as genius as Leonardo Da Vinci.
There has never been, and probably never will be, a man or woman quite like Leonardo Da Vinci. So incredibly ahead of his time in so many areas, Da Vinci was a genius painter, sculptor, scientist, engineer, and more. There is no one in our era who we can place at this same level today, though there are some who could be considered very close, in different ways.
I would argue that one of these people is Alexander Calder. An extremely prolific artist, sculptor, inventor, and craftsman, Calder worked constantly through his life to create an estimated fifteen thousand pieces before his death in 1976, a quantity to rival Da Vinci himself. And, like Da Vinci, Calder’s works were spread over a wide range; along with his famous mobiles and stabiles, he created other sculpture in metal, wire, and wood, along with paintings, children’s toys, jewelry, and even tapestries. Calder shared many sources of inspiration with Da Vinci, such as the human figure and nature. They were both renowned artists within their lifetimes, each having friends in high society and living off of a constant flow of commissions for their work.
Though Calder is known mainly for his artwork and sculpture, he was similar to Da Vinci in other ways that are often surprising. Before turning to artwork full time, Calder studied engineering at the Stevens Institute of Technology and became a highly accomplished engineer, technician, and mathematician. With a highly intellectual mind, much like Da Vinci, Calder loved to experiment with machinery, designing hand-cranked sculptures and children’s toys through his life. They were both men of complimentary artistic and mathematical talents, allowing Da Vinci to create his incredible designs and helping Calder develop his specialty, the moving sculpture.
Moving sculpture is actually how, I believe, Calder reflects Da Vinci the most. Da Vinci is famous for inventing his own methods of recording his ideas, developing the basis for modern mechanical and anatomical drawings. He used existing knowledge and his own inspiration to create an entire new genre of art. Calder did exactly that, with his mobiles and stabiles. Experimenting with mechanical sculpture, Calder discovered he could create balancing sculptures that would move with no external crank or man-made force, only the wind and the physics of the sculpture itself. In this way, Calder invented an entirely new area of sculpture, the mobile. Just like Da Vinci, his developments within his field have acted as foundation and inspiration for countless others since his time, and, just like Da Vinci, he continues to inspire today.
Although it is tough to compare anyone to Leonardo Da Vinci, there is one individual that I believe is worthy of being his modern day replica. This person is Shawn Carter, better known as Jay-Z.
You may think of Jay-Z as just another rap artist off the streets, however he is much more than that. Like Da Vinci, Jay-Z's reach spans over many areas of study and life. While Shawn Carter may not be the successful scientist or engineer that Da Vinci was, he has managed to revolutionize the music business. He successfully became the CEO of one of the most renound rap lables in the world, Def Jam Records. After his CEO experience he was able to create Roc-A-Fella Records and later Roc Nation. Jay-Z was one of the first to effectively own, manage, and produce all at the same time. By "owning" himself he was able to play by his own rules and do things his way. This is just like Da Vinci who ignored the laws of the church and did what he needed to succeed. Other than owning his own record label, Jay-Z also owns his own brand name, Rocawear, and his own bar, the 40/40 Club.
Outside of business and being an entrepanuer, Shawn Carter, is most well known for his musical talent. Just as Da Vinci he is a wonderful artist, only he creates pictures with words instead of paint. Da Vinci was one of the first artists to depict truely accurate human figures and design many advanced machines. Mr. Carter is able to use his music to accurately depict his life from poverty to wealth; painting a vivid images of the everything that occurred from then until now. He is also one of the few musicians that does not have to write his songs, but instead creates his lyrics in his head as he raps. Many other musicians consider his style unique and say that he has many techniques which he both helped to create and perfect. This is very similar to Da Vinci, because his ideas were completely original and he had an extremely unique style of his own for inventing and for painting.
As Da Vinci, Shawn Carter had to struggle against many chanllenges in order to succeed. Da Vinci had to resist the church and go against its will to do his experiments and design many fo the things he did and draw what he drew. Jay-Z did not fight against the church, however, he did fight against poverty and the endless struggle to get out of the gang life and the life of drugs. By focusing primarily on his career Jay-Z was able to work his way to the top, putting his love for music above all else. This is just like Da Vinci, who had to work against the church and its followers, but by focusing on what he wanted to do he was able to achieve great things.
Leonardo Da Vinic's talents stretch over three main fields: art, science, and engineering. Like Da Vinci, Jay-Z also spans three fields: business, art, and philosophy. His philosophy on life can be seen in his music. Through his songs you can see Jay-Z's views on life and how his own experiences shaped him into who he is today.
Shawn Corey Carter is in my opinion the modern day Leonardo Da Vinci. Like Da Vinci, Carter has a brilliant mind which he uses to benefit the world. While Da Vinci gave the world many useful inventions, Jay-Z benefits the world by giving back. He is very charitable to many foundations around the world. This is because he knows what living in poverty is like and wants to help people get to a better place. Da Vinci's ideas were also used to help the advancement of people.
After viewing the documentary, I do not believe there is anyone in this day and age who can be known as a “modern day Davinci.” He did vigorous research in botany, anatomy, engineering, and flight. While some may argue that other scientists have done the same type of research, no one was as ahead of their time as Davinci. His ideas were almost unfathomable by others, so much that his research was frowned upon by the “government” (or Roman Catholic Church). Therefore, when asked to choose who would be compared to a modern day Davinci, I was unsure who I would pick. However, in my anatomy class next period, we went to a webinar given by Dean Kamen. This innovative man has come up with many inventions such as the segway, an all-terrain wheelchair, an insulin pump, and a new way to give chemotherapy. I believe he can be compared to a modern day Davinci due to the fact that just like Davinci, Kamen has many areas of study, not just one. They are also comparable due to their work ethic and their attitudes which won’t let anybody stop them from making breakthrough discoveries.
First off, Kamen can be compared to Davinci because Kamen they both have no just one, but many areas of study. While Davinci made many breakthroughs in aerodynamics, botany, anatomy, and physics, Kamen has made many breakthroughs in engineering, physics, chemistry, and the medical field. For example, Kamen is most widely known for his invention of the segway. His engineering marvels didn’t stop there. Once Kamen came up with the technology to keep the segway balanced, he applied that and created a wheelchair that can balance on all terrain. He has also made huge breakthroughs in the medical field. He has designed an insulin pump that is able to give an adult doses of insulin throughout the day without them having to administer shots. He also devised a nano-chip, which can be injected into the bloodstream and administer chemotherapy to the cancerous tumor. This is beneficial because if the chemotherapy is only delivered to the cancer cells, it cannot harmfully affect the rest of the body. All of these marvelous innovations make Kamen comparable to Davinci because Davinci also invented ideas and objects that were revolutionary at the time. Davinci’s idea of the heart and blood circulation was so revolutionary the Roman Catholic Church wouldn’t even allow it! Davinci’s glider was also revolutionary because when tested out in modern day, it was found to be comparable to the Wright Brothers glider, which did not come along until the 20th century.
Kamen can also be known as a modern day Davinci due to the fact they both had similar work ethic. Even when told they shouldn’t keep inventing, both of these men disregarded what others said and continued to invent. In both cases, this drive to succeed lead to huge breakthroughs. For example, in the webinar, Kamen discussed how he was always told his ideas were stupid and would never get him anywhere. When Kamen invented the segway, he was told it was a useless piece of technology. However, Kamen didn’t let that get to him. He used the engineering of the segway and applied it to wheelchairs, eventually making an all terrain wheelchair that can climb stairs. Davinci had the same ethic during his dissections. When the Roman Catholic Church found out he was dissecting human bodies for study, they threatened him with death. However, that did not stop Davinci, and he continued to perform his dissections until he was able to create accurate drawings of the human heart.
Overall, there is almost no one alive today who can be compared to Davinci due to the fact Davinci was so ahead of his time. However, if one person had to be picked, Dean Kamen can be compared to a modern day Davinci because they both made huge advancements in many different fields of study and they both would not give up inventing until a huge innovation happened.
It is not only the unparalleled intelligence of Da Vinci that makes him so unique, but also the fantastic diversity of the topics he studied so meticulously and completely. Da Vinci made crucial findings in such different fields as botany and anatomy, and engineering and art. Today, most of the prominent intellectuals of society specialize in a certain field, wholly devoting all their attention to that specific topic. Therefore, the person I believe can be compared to a modern day Da Vinci lacks the diversity in subject material that the famous innovator is so famous for. Nonetheless, I believe that Jane Goodall can be labeled as a modern day Da Vinci for several reasons.
In thinking about the distinctiveness of Da Vinci, I realized that one reason he has become so idolized is because he truly revolutionized the way people view the world. He was extremely willing to challenge the status quo, even accused of necromancy by the people of his time period. I felt that, to be considered a modern day Da Vinci, the person could not simply be a talented inventor or a remarkable intellectual. They had to have faced some adversity in their endeavors, not only inventing ideas, but inventing ways to look at the world. I feel that Goodall has done this through her extensive research on chimpanzees. Before her research, people considered animals incapable of the intellectual ability of humans. They were believed to have no advanced thoughts or feelings. Even today, animals are generally regarded as inferior to humans. Goodall bravely challenged this belief, showing through years of research that chimpanzees “Are capable of rational thought [and] emotions like joy and sorrow.” This idea was unconventional during her time period, as many of Da Vinci’s were during his time.
Jane Goodall is also similar to Da Vinci in that she revolutionized the way information can be recorded. Da Vinci is famous for introducing the use of detailed drawings of inventions or processes in order to illustrate his ideas. Goodall also challenged the way findings are gathered and recorded. Rather than assigning each of the test subjects a number, as was the universal exercise of the time period, she gave each subject a name. This was highly criticized because people believed such practices prevented her from completing objective study. She was thus accused of anthropomorphism. This resembles the way Da Vinci was criticized for his practice of dissecting human bodies and was accused of necromancy. Goodall is also unique because of the fact that she was actually accepted into a chimpanzee society. She remains the only one of her field to achieve this remarkable feat, and it has certainly set her apart from other researchers.
Both Da Vinci and Goodall were extremely dedicated to their research, each spending countless years of their lives completing their meticulous and radical studies. They both changed the way people regarded their fields, and also changed the way research was completed. Both were brave in their assertions, and unafraid of the wrath of public opinion. Whether or not Goodall’s findings are truly centuries ahead of her time is not certain without the perspective we now have as we look back on Da Vinci. However, there is no doubt that Goodall’s research demonstrates a similar intellectual ability and most importantly, a similar element of deviation from popular belief, as the great Leonardo Da Vinci.
No one has come close to matching the intelligence and creativeness of Leonardo Da Vinci. He was extremely skilled in art, science, math, architecture, sculpture, and more. He compiled a very impressive collection of work in many fields of study that were far beyond what normal scientists were thinking about. No one from our time period can quite live up to Da Vinci, but some have done quite a bit.
Albert Einstein comes to mind because of his impressive work done in the field of physics. He was a German physicist who effected a revolution in physics. He was able to think beyond what the scientists of his time thought just as Da Vinci did, but only in one field of study. This work was impressive, but did not put him in the same league as Da Vinci.
Da Vinci's range of study was one thing that has and will make him stand out so significantly forever. He studied anatomy, art, flight, how things work and go together, and many more. No one in recent times has done as much intelligent work in as many fields as Da Vinci has, and it does not seem as if that will change.
As was made clear, Da Vinci is an individual who will never be duplicated in terms of intelligence. He has made a significant lasting impression that can be recognized by everyone who looks at what he has done.
Leonardo Da Vinci was definitely considered a renaissance man. Not only was he involved in many fields, but he also did extremely well in all his discoveries. After watching the film, I do not consider another Da Vinci in modern times. Leonardo Da Vinci was a scientist, an inventor, and an artist. He was a talented man that changed society with his new designs.
While studying anatomy and becoming a scientist, Da Vinci wondered how birds flew and how the human body functioned. As he questioned himself, he kept a journal of sketches, which helped him comprehend nature and the physically parts of a creature. Moreover, Da Vinci studied the human heart and the circular flow of blood. His studies of the human heart showed how it interacted and how important it was to the body. For example, in the movie, Da Vinci attempted to cut open a heart and see how it helped the circulation of the blood. Leonardo’s study of the human body and his knowledge proved how engaged he was with the study of humanity. Based on everyone’s knowledge during this time period, Da Vinci was far advanced for society.
Leonardo Da Vinci was also an inventor. He invented the machine gun, the tank, the helicopter, and many more devices. Da Vinci created the machine gun to provide the fighters with support and more power. Furthermore, the machine gun had the capability of obliteration and authority. Also, as shown in the movie, Leonardo Da Vinci made the cross boat. He designed it to make it more powerful, but it did not work. So, later on, his design was changed and made into his dream invention of a glider. Without Da Vinci’s inventions, our world would be behind in technology.
Despite the fact that Leonardo Da Vinci was a scientist and an inventor, he was also an amazing artist. Some of Da Vinci’s famous artwork include the Mona Lisa, The Last Supper and the Virgin of the Rocks. The Mona Lisa is a self-portrait that represents humanism. Her facial expressions and clothing make people wonder how and why she is feeling happy. Through all of Leonardo’s paintings he expresses the idea of humanism and how education reformed.
All in all, I strongly believe that there is no one similar to Leonardo Da Vinci. Not only was he great at everything he did, but he also help our society with all his inventions. Da Vinci was more than a scientist, an inventor and an artist, he was too advanced for his time period. Many people back then did not notice how much Da Vinci imapcted their community, but today we can see how his contributions made a difference.
After seeing the documentary about Leonardo Da Vinci and some of his inventions, it is just about impossible to compare him to anyone in modern day. Da Vinci was thinking hundreds of years ahead of his time, and some of these ideas are still accurate. Few people could contend with Da Vinci's genius, but they could not compare to his artwork at the same time. For someone to be both as intelligent and artistic as Da Vinci was is simply unheard of nowadays.
Most people know Da Vinci for one major reason: his artistic ability and his most famous work, the Mona Lisa. But Da Vinci's artwork was only scratching the surface of his multiple talents. Da Vinci was not only an artist, he was also a chemist, engineer, and a doctor in some ways as well. Da Vinci, like many people of his time, was very interested in flight. He designed a glider hundreds of years before the Wright Brothers famous first flight in the early 20th century. Unfortunately, Da Vinci never got to test these designs. In the documentary, however, the people working followed Da Vinci's exact design and found out that the glider worked better than the Wright brothers' did when they flew. It flew for a farther distance and at a taller height as well. For someone to match his artistic skill and precise engineering at the same time is unheard of.
When discussing people who were revolutionary to their time in the way Da Vinci was, very few people come to mind. Although he was not very "artistic", persay, Bill Gates was a revolutionary man. He was the first in a line of huge technological achievers during his time. He started Microsoft in 1975 as the first major computer software company. Microsoft started the computer revolution and today is still known as the largest computer software company due to its success in the industry. Bill Gates started this technological trend and is still the leader today, similar to Da Vinci. All in all however, Gates simply cannot be compared to Da Vinci for the reason that Gates is not as rounded in so many topics as Da Vinci was.
Leonardo Da Vinci was at the very least one of the greatest minds in human history. Just matching his genius would be an enormous feat only possibly accomplished by a handful of people. However, the genius was just one aspect of Da Vinci’s greatness. Da Vinci was somehow able to expand his immense knowledge over a plethora of intellectual disciplines including art, engineering, mathematics, anatomy, geology, botany among others. While there very well may be individuals who have matched Da Vinci’s intelligence, in modern times there has never been someone with such genius, so ahead of their time, over so many areas of study, at least that can be proven.
There are most likely intellectuals who can at least come close to the genius of Leonardo Da Vinci, however none have matched the variety of fields he excelled in. Perhaps, the closest mind to Da Vinci’s since World War II has been Albert Einstein. He is responsible for numerous breakthroughs in science. Among his most famous ideas were the development of the atomic bomb and the theory of relativity (E=mc2). He additionally came up with the theory as to why the sky is blue. However, I do not believe I could say that Einstein has matched Da Vinci as although he has achieved great success all of it has been contained to the field of physics. Da Vinci’s genius had no boundaries and expanded over the life sciences, physical sciences, mathematics, and arts. Although Einstein may have very well matched Da Vinci’s intelligence, he was not so ahead of his time in such an abundance of fields.
I personally do not believe that there is a modern day Leonardo Da Vinci nor that there will ever be one. The great minds of modern times tend to focus their genius on one area of study and not expand to include basically all fields, as Da Vinci did. The idea of Da Vinci’s vast array of abilities is already mind-boggling to me; the concept of another human rivaling his widespread genius is even more mind-boggling.
In my opinion no man comes parallel to Leonardo Da Vinci. He is still an important topic almost five hundred years after his death. The paintings he painted are what give modern artists creativity. His study of anatomy far surpassed fellow influential people of the Renaissance era. When he designed the plane not a single soul knew flying was possible. He was the most intelligent and creative man history has ever seen.
So is there a modern day Da Vinci? No. There are many men and women that have done wonderful things and have changed history but not one of them can be compared to Da Vinci. In our time everything has been invented and we have technology to help us every step of the way. Da Vinci did it all with a pen and limited paper. He studied the circulation of blood before most people his age could read a simple passage.
If Da Vinci were alive today I have no doubt in my mind that he would still surpass our intellectual capacity. The man went against everything he was taught just to study the human body. His accurate drawings of the body were used to teach others ins and outs.
I’m not one to praise anyone but Leonardo Da Vinci deserves all the credit. He may not be alive but he isn’t dead either. His legacy lives on and no one will be able to compete with such an intelligent and talented man.
There are very few people who have lived recently or are still alive today that can even come close to being comparable to Leonardo Da Vinci. Da Vinci is one of the most influential inventors, thinkers, and artists who ever lived. Much of his inventions, philosophies, paintings and sculptures are well known even today, almost 500 years after his death. One person that I see as comparable to Leonardo Da Vinci as an inventor and technological pioneer is Steve Jobs. Steve Jobs is the co-founder, chairman, and former CEO of Apple Inc. Like Da Vinci, Jobs introduces new ideas and concepts of technology to the entire human race.
First of all of course, is the iPod. It was something the world had never seen before as it burst onto the scene in 2001. Sure there had been mp3 players available for 3 years beforehand, but none of them met the capability and individuality of the iPod. It was unique and perfect for playing music with great sound quality in just a tiny compact device. It was a technological breakthrough much like Da Vinci’s flying machine and helicopter designs.
Secondly, Da Vinci was way ahead of his own time. He developed a design of wings on his glider that could maximize lift while eliminating as much drag as possible. This design wasn’t rediscovered until modern day airplane wings were tested with the help of engines and wind tunnels. Steve jobs is also ahead of his time. He introduces devices that may have not been developed for years to come. Things like the MacBook Air, a fully functional laptop computer that is just .76 of an inch thick.
Steve Jobs, much like Da Vinci will probably never be forgotten because of his importance and prominence in technological society. Everywhere you look, you will see something related to Apple Inc. or something derived from Leonardo Da Vinci’s Designs. Also because of his inventions and ideas in the world of computers, Jobs can be considered one of the first inventors of home computers and laptops. I believe the legacy of Steve Jobs will live on for hundreds of years to come, just like Da Vinci’s.
In my opinion, there is not one person who can totally compare with Leonardo Da Vinci. He was a genius in several ways- artistically as well as scientifically. The discoveries and creations Da Vinci are still accurate in modern times, indicating that his knowledge exceeded the general capacity of his time period. Although many that knew of him during his lifetime saw him as an outsider, Leonardo Da Vinci will always be recognized as one of the worlds most advanced individuals for his given time period.
This recognition is similar to that of one of todays most popular celebrities- Lady Gaga. Despite her immense fan base, Gaga continues to receive criticism for her choices regarding her clothing, her music, and her style in general. She represents something new, and some people do not approve. Lady Gaga is often judged by her wardrobe choices, for example, the dress she wore to the MTV Music Video Awards was made entirely of raw meat. Most viewers saw this as a strange and unusual act. One that could permanently label her as an outsider or an outcast in todays society. Much like Da Vinci was often judged and criticized by his own decisions. He often dissected human bodies or body parts in order to aid him in constructing artwork that focused on the human figure. This was a strange practice that was against the common religion during that time. As well as her clothing, Lady Gaga is also criticized for her musical talents. Although many people are devout Gaga fans, some people just don't get it. Some of her songs as well as music videos have a controversial message, or one that cannot be determined. Her voice may be good, but what she sings and how she portrays her lyrics in music videos sometimes causes Gaga to lose fans, or permanently repel potential "little monsters". However, these peculiar choices may be the exact thing that leaves a lasting impression. Although she may not be widely accepted by all people, everyone will know her name. Lady Gaga concerns herself with the things she likes to do and be a part of, regardless of if everyone approves of her choices or not. Similarly, Da Vinci was not concerned with his crowd of fans. He created art that he liked, and that would forever be a part of our world's history. The pieces he created may not have had a large impact on his own time period, or many generations to follow, but hundred of years later those who discovered the work of Leonardo Da Vinci were amazed at what they saw, even if it seemed out of the ordinary.
In general, the stylistic differences between many mainstream pop artists today and those of the infamous Lady Gaga are what separate her from the crowd. She is not afraid to try something new, or be a little different than what our society is used to. Leonardo Da Vinci is also an accurate portrayal of this difference in society. He took risks and pushed his own limits to discover something new and strange to that time period. Although no one could completely compare to Leonardo Da Vinci, Lady Gaga seems to be a modern icon that comes very close.
After watching the video on not only putting two of Leonardo Da Vinci's blueprints, but also taking an in depth view into his work in various fields of study, it is quite clear that no modern day person can be put on the same level as Da Vinci. Not only was he an artist, but an engineer. Not only a Botanist, but also a chemist. His discoveries anatomy and aerodynamics were, as were his other findings, not only years, but rather centuries ahead of his time. His versatility of study and knowledge is one of his distinguishing attributes that makes him on his own, unmatched level
Many people are experts in merely a few subjects, if that, and to compare a modern age person to Leonardo's innovative mind is unrealistic. He did not merely dabble in various fields of study, but instead became a pioneer and an expert of his time, and even created the basis for many future studies involving those done today.
However, one name that could come to mind is Steve Jobs, who we have nearly all heard of. This man made amazing advances in the technological field and came up with the first compact personal computer. And even since then, his innovation has not let up and many famous and products used world-wide are used thanks to him. Although he has revolutionized the way many of us use technology, and is like Leonardo in the way that they both had, and have, amazing innovative minds, Leonardo was still much more educated in multiple fields. This being said, Jobs is still an amazing person whose inventions and ideas in his field have seemingly gone unsurpassed.
There are countless other examples of who could have the potential of being compared to Leonardo Da Vinci, and this was just one. This being said the only true test to the question is the test of time, and to see who might have had a mind with unfathomable knowledge, as Da Vinci's did.
Leonardo Da Vinci was one of the most brilliant and inventive minds; not only in his time period, but over the entire course of history. He was a painter, sculptor, architect, musician, scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, geologist, cartographer, botanist, and writer of the Italian Renaissance. Some of his ideas for inventions included a helicopter, a tank, solar power, a calculator, a giant crossbow, and a glider plane. Theories he developed included the workings of the human heart and aorta, as well as many other processes within the human anatomy. Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa is one of the most famous portraits of all time. In the documentary we watched, a plane was built exactly to Da Vinci’s specifications, and it was discovered that had he made one, it would have worked. The function was not perfect, but Da Vinci’s idea of flight and how it was achieved was entirely accurate. He was centuries ahead of his time.
I have to argue that there is no one in today’s world that could even begin to compare with Da Vinci’s vast knowledge, skill, and interests. Granted, there are many people who are brilliant, and create inventions and technology that no one has seen before. However, technology is advancing so quickly nowadays that every piece could be considered, in a way, years before its time. It is unlikely to think that someone could have thought of something today that no one else will imagine for centuries to come. When someone creates a new idea, researchers immediately jump on it and develop it. There is nothing wrong with this, and it makes the individual no less inventive or intelligent, but Da Vinci was unique in that his ideas were never acted upon until hundreds of years later.
Da Vinci had such a huge range of interests that has been unparalleled ever since his time. Although some may be equally as intelligent, no one has ever compared, nor ever will as far as we can see, to Leonardo Da Vinci. This is not necessarily based on the people themselves, but instead on the reaction of society to their discoveries. Da Vinci is known for his legacy, and I strongly believe that no one else will be looked upon in the same way: for being a genius whose inventions would not be verified until centuries after his death.
When asked the question, who could be a modern day Da Vinci, the simple answer is no one. He was an ingenious thinker who mastered in art, science and was vastly ahead of his time. To be able to predict someone that will be looked upon in such high standards centuries in the future is a nearly impossible task. Although finding someone comparable to Da Vinci would be extremely challenging, there are definitely great minds these days that shouldn't be dismissed so easily. Even though there are many people who have made great contributions to our world today, Da Vinci's discoveries and. achievements place him in an entirely different class then thinkers of today
Da Vinci was a remarkable artist with his most famous work being the Mona Lisa. He went through intensive studies of the human body, primarily the face to just create this portrait. Along with being an exceptional artist, Da Vinci was a very skilled scientist. Through a practice of dissecting human remains, a practice that was highly looked down upon and potentially subject to a fatal punishment , Da Vinci was able to get a greater understanding of how the human body worked. Through his studies of anatomy, much insight into the how the human body worked was revealed and a new look at humans was formed. One last contribution he made that stands out was his idea for a hang glider like flying device. He developed intricate plans for this flying apparatus and had he been able to successfully construct it, he would have even more well respected. The Wright brothers were the next in line to successfully create a working flying device, however this was not until the 20th century. Because he was hundreds of years ahead of the curve, his achievements are outstanding, and it's a shame we only have a small percent of his actual works.
One person who may have similar qualities to Da Vinci in the sense that he created something substantial that no one really thought about would be Bill Gates. Founded in 1975 by Gates and his associate Paul Allen,Microsoft was a major advancement in the technological world. This was the first real operating system and made the use of computers more user friendly. Popularity of this was immediate and made Microsoft an instant hit. Although Gates specialized in a specific field, where as Da Vinci had a larger range of talents, this achievement should not be undermined. Microsoft is used today, and at least for now it seems that it will be staying for a long time. They both made contributions to society that will last for years to come. Although no one person will achieve the prestige that Da Vinci has, Bill Gates in my eyes has some similar attributes that may in fact make him remembered for years to come.
After watching the Da Vinci video in class, I became more aware of Da Vinci’s many different achievements throughout his life. Da Vinci was a genius and he excelled in many different areas. The amount of learning and number of discoveries that he did is unrelatable to anything or anyone else in history. His work covered four main themes: painting, architecture, the elements of mechanics, and the human anatomy. However, Da Vinci was also a sculptor, musician, scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, geologist, and writer. He is well known as one of the greatest painters of all time and even thought to be the most widely talented person to have ever lived.
One single man did so much in his lifetime that people today can hardly compare to it all. Da Vinci was so far ahead of his time that people today can not stand up against him. Da Vinci was involved in many subjects and experiments unlike people today. Most people in the modern world focus on one area of study and become experts in that field. Da Vinci was unlike this because he opened himself to do so much more.
Not one person can even begin to compare to Da Vinci. I believe that while perhaps there are some who may be close to Da Vinci in one area of study, there is no one person who has done all that Da Vinci achieved in his life. Many men and women have achieved plenty of new discoveries and created new inventions, but none compare to Da Vinci. Da Vinci’s resources were limited, but he still managed to learn more than some people today will ever learn.
In knowing all this about Da Vinci, I think it is clear to see that no one person can come close in being called the modern day Da Vinci. With all of Da Vinci’s talents and advancements in many different fields, it is nearly impossible to compare to him.
Leonardo da Vinci (4/15/1452-5/2/1519) was arguably one of the greatest minds in all of human history. His studies and designs were hundreds of years ahead of his time. He created drawings of flying machines with aspects including the airfoil, which was not present on modern aeronautic vehicles until the early 20th Century. His studies of anatomical structures and technical drawing demonstrated an understanding of the body and of technical mechanism that were an unparalleled amount ahead of other beings. To try to locate a single individual that displayed such an incredible understanding of the world, had such a profound influence on life in the future, and that was so genuinely ahead of their own time is a useless pursuit. Such a person simply has never existed.
As time since the death of da Vinci progressed, major advances were made in all fields of study. Technology progressed at an unbelievable rate, but at no point was it hundreds of years ahead of its time, or at the very least, not as a result of a single individual. Ideas and speculations and theories made by da Vinci throughout vastly different fields of study are still being used and applied today, and I simply don’t think that can be said about any other person’s work. The only entity that I can see being remembered as being a forerunner in technology and sciences is Volkswagen. The automobile manufacturer and its subsidiaries pioneer technology that is so simple, yet so advanced, that it will be the talk of centuries to come. For example, the Kinetic Energy Recovery System that is used in many of Porsche’s racing cars is technology that is so simple, elegant, and effective that it can be compared to da Vinci’s work. The creation of a 250 mph automobile and a 250+ mpg automobile reflect the polarity and the depth of the group’s studies.
A far simpler reason as to why a modern da Vinci cannot be justifiably crowned regards technology and its progression. Today, science and technology reign supreme. Those of us who have strayed away from looking at religion for reasons as to why things are as they are look at science. In da Vinci’s time though, religion was the solution to all problems. It explained various happenings, and it was almost universally used as a means of explanation. For a man to create technical drawings, and art works using perspective and proportions, and proper anatomical properties was effectively unprecedented. Not only were da Vinci’s ideas revolutionary for years to come, but his actions and emphasis on science, rather than religion were revolutionary in his time as well. Today, there is no establishment that an aspiring da Vinci can move against. To prove something, or invent something using science, art, or technology is the norm. For there to truly be a modern day da Vinci, someone would have had to have fought against technology, and still create an ambitious and futuristic model that could be marveled at, proved, and replicated in years to come. It just simply can’t happen again.
To summarize, there is no modern da Vinci. To say there are not brilliant and revolutionary people and establishments would be false, but there simply has not been anyone so profoundly ahead of our time, and yet so currently revolutionary in their actions. Da Vinci’s work and his revolutionary methods by which he worked effectively made it impossible for anyone who lived after him to replicate. By changing to a strictly scientific, mechanical, natural, and technological route of study, he changed the world over to a side that proved that it was the only reputable way to study. Religious ideas as to what happened were now either obsolete, or were able to be proved to be utter malarkey. In doing this, Leonardo da Vinci made it impossible for anyone to replicate his actions, and as a result, there has never been, and presumably will never be another man quite like him. To end, might I just ask a last question; did da Vinci knowingly create the paradox that makes replicating his work impossible?
Leonardo Da Vinci was a man living in the future. He expressed ideas hundreds of years beyond his time that took people realize. Although it's almost impossible to compare anyone within the last century to someone with the likes of Da Vinci, there are some people who do stick out. More specifically George Orwell.
Orwell, while not expanding his knowledge outside of his writing's, had a similar mind to Da Vinci and was always looking ahead at the future of mankind. Orwell's craft was literature and his ideas were of politics and how men were politically evolving. Two novels of George Orwell, Animal Farm and 1984 both show the political genius of Orwell and how not only were his idea's farther forward than many others but in many cases fairly accurate.
Animal Farm, like 1984 is a novel protesting totalitarianism, and more specifically Stalinism. Animal Farm was written during Wold War Two and posed to warn democratic countries of the influential Communist Soviet Union. The problem was the Soviet Union in 1945 had successfully defeated the Nazi party so Orwell was seen as a traitor to his country of England just as Leonardo might have been seen as a heretic to the Church for dissecting bodies. Soon England and the rest of the world realized that the Soviet Union was an incredibly powerful and manipulative enemy when it started taking over Eastern European countries directly after World War Two(http://www.ibiblio.org/expo/soviet.exhibit/coldwar.html). Just as Orwell had predicted.
This wasn't the first time that Orwell was far ahead of his time. In an even more dramatic attack on totalitarianism, 1984 is a novel that takes place in the future (Orwell's future at the time: written in 1948) where humans are no longer free to express human emotions and basic freedoms, without even realizing that anything is wrong. Although we are not ruled by an all powerful tyrant like Orwell predicted pieces of the book do find their way into present day society that makes you wonder if that really is the direction that we are moving in. Specifically his predictions about how the power of technology would effect the way governments govern.
In the book security cameras (tele-screens) could be found in any room of any building and on any street corner in the city London, to make sure that no one was conspiring against the government. Is it not true that if you walk down the streets of London now that you aren't always being observed by cameras? Or that the government at all times knows exactly where you are as long as your carrying a cell phone. We now live in a society like that of 1984 where technology dominates and can easily be abused if put in the hands of a tyrant such as Stalin.
Other ideas expressed in this book were the powers of nuclear warfare which obviously is correct and he also goes into great detail about different ideas and theories about the purpose of warfare and government.
Orwell was an observer of political science while Da Vinci, also a scientist, observed the fundamentals of nature. Both ahead of their times producing ideas that were not completely off. People with the mind of Da Vinci are constantly looking ahead with innovative sciences and ideas by studying the natural world around them just like George Orwell did with politics.
Leonardo Da Vinci was a man of extraordinary intelligence. He was able to master many fields of science and art. He was, for lack of a better word, a renaissance man. This is something that has become incredibly rare in modern day society. In our time, every is expected to specialize on their one career cluster or area of research. As a result, it is almost impossible to find someone worthy of being compared to Da Vinci. The only person whose intelligence even comes close to Da Vinci is, probably the smartest man, Albert Einstein.
As the documentary had shown, Da Vinci was far ahead of his time. He was not only able to discover and model the heart, but he was able to do strictly abiding to the scientific method. He was able to create a glider that could fly, centuries before the wright brothers. He was even able to discover something as complex as the manner in which blood flows within the body(it travels in a vortex). Without a doubt, Da Vinci was one of the greatest minds of his time.
Albert Einstein is one of the greatest minds of our time. His mastery in astrophysics, physics, and other sciences alike gives him his well deserved name. He thought of things far beyond his time. For example, he had discovered both Dark Matter and Dark Energy before modern society. He had originally called it the mass and energy constant. He discovered it when he noticed that there was less visible matter than needed to sustain such gravitational force.Dark Energy and Dark Matter is one of the many things he discovered far ahead of his time.
Da Vinci was opposed by the Catholic Church for his works because they believed it would lead to necromancy. Einstein suffered a similar fate. NASA rejected his theory for Dark Matter and Dark Energy, believing it to be an error in calculations. Both Dark Matter and Dark Energy have been proven to be true only a few years ago. Now Dark Matter & Dark Energy have become one of the biggest questions in astrophysics.
Due to the organization of today's society, it is very unlikely that someone as well versed as Da Vinci will come around again. However, many people who specialize in a specific field of study show some very promising results. For example, Einstein was able to pave the way for modern astrology. Einstein might be the only modern person whose intelligence can rival that of Da Vinci's.
Summit Singhaviranon
I doubt any one person could compare with Da Vinci. For a single individual to come up with as many initiative theorems and ideas as him seems close to impossible. Perhaps this is because Da Vinci ideas are still relevant today, such as his spiral blood flow of the heart. Therefore, aside from having the raw intellectual power to rival the great artists, new competitors in the brain game must also compete with the man's inventions themselves.
Perhaps the only area that could hope to complete with Da Vinci before-his-time ideas, would be that of tissue engineering, in other words, regenerating lost tissue. Therefore, to compare, one must look at the inventor and forefront of this movement, Stephen Badylak.
Badylak started off his life studying to be a veterinarian. He was fascinated by the rare and complex forms of ailment that could take over an animals body. He quickly realized however, that most pet owners could not afford these treatments, and so set out upon different work. There fore, he obtained a phd in animal pathology and went to a medical school, while setting up a small office in his house to test for the rare disease that so fascinated him, which former classmates sent him to study.
Next, as Leonardo often would, he became fascinated with one procedure, for replacing aortic valves. It used synthetics, and could cause problems in circulation. He became to wonder if he could find another source of tubing that could stand up to the pumping of the heart, from inside the original body. His sight fell upon the small intestine by pure, harebrained luck.
He conducted many experiments, replacing small parts of the strong aorta with the weak intestine, convinced the animal would die. It thrived. He repeated this many time, finally opening a dog up to see how this was possible. When he did so, he found only healthy aortic valve. Later, he figured out this was thanks to a small protein stored in the intestine that has huge regenerative power.
Like Da Vinci, he kept this information to himself, even as the testing continued, with more and more promising results. Even when he found it to regenerate human fingers and muscle, he said nothing. Da Vinci did the same, due to the fact the church would shoot down his ideas, then burn him as a heratic. Badylak did not share, due to his fear of the research being shot down, and being laughed out of the scientific community.
Like Da Vinci, his ideas were ahead of his time. The rest of the world was still dreaming of regeneration, despite it showing up at their door steps. To them, despite proof, it was, is, only science fiction. Like Da vinci. Badylak observed and did experimental testing over and over, despite the rest of their communities disapproval. Both came from diverse backgrounds, albeit, Da Vinci was certainly more so, being a artist, astronomer, engineer, and so on. However, the one thing that allows Badylak to compete with Da Vinci is his breaking ground. Like Da Vinci, he is creating sciences only dreamed of at the time. Da Vinci had his dreams of flight, which were deemed impossible at the time; its no different than the challenges Badylak faces now. Most importantly though, both of there scientist deserve to be remembered for their ground breaking ideas, and for inspiring the new generations with fact, not fiction.
Leonardo DaVinci was a man known mostly for his incredible works of art, especially the Mona Lisa. However, until watching the documentary made upon DaVinci's scientific studies, I was totally unaware that he had other pursuits out side the relm of simply art. His work is beyond that of most modern people. DaVinci had a certain drive and obsession that made him into, a man who was able to learn about the planet through observation. I don't think there is a modern DaVinci, the areas of study that this man encompassed cannot be reached by another, as a painter, as an inventor, and as a scientist. People generally go down in history for one contribution to the world, however DaVinci's contributions seemed many and all of them extraordinary. For someone of modern day and age to even compare themselves to such a man would be a dis respect toward DaVinci himself. There has been many medical and technological advances since the Renaissance, but each of these advices were due to the contributing factors of many people. Leonardo DaVinci was someone who was able to tell how the heart worked, by observing nature. He discovered flight centuries before the Wright brothers. DaVinci stands at the top of the man great men that have passed through the world. Another factor lies in that a modern DaVinci would have to discover something that has not already been discovered by their peers. In this modern day of easy communication, there are many people in the field of science, and with that, Yerevan is more competition. Not one single person in his age may stand out to me as a modern day DaVinci, however the community as a whole would perhaps be able to surpass Davinci's achievements.
However, if I had to choose a single person who may be considered to be a modern day Da Vinci, it would be Einstein, a man who has been acknowledged as a genius of his time, Einstein is a man who has far surpassed his peers, furthermore there may be aspects of Einstein that have yet been understood by the public. The inner workings of Einstein's mind can really only be understood by the man himself. Perhaps years down the road it will be discovered in Einstein's past records that he had been years ahead of modern day scientists.
Both Da Vinci and Einstein were people well known for their accomplishments, however later on it was discovered that both men were far more intelligent than they were given credit for. I believe that later on people will be able to better make sense of Einstein's works and discover his accomplishments later on. Of all men, Einstein is someone who comes remotely close to the genius in Da Vinci's work and notebooks.
After watching the documentary on Leonardo Da Vinci, I do not believe that anyone in our time will be looked upon as an equal to him. In addition to being an artist, Da Vinci was also an inventor, a mathematician, a master of science and many more. His discoveries were centuries ahead of his time and many were only recently proven by modern scientists. No one in our time period has made that type of advancement.
Da Vinci was obsessed with discovering how the human body worked and even in his artwork, it is clear that he was not impressed with his works until they accurately reflected the human body. Da Vinci’s scientific studies were aided by his many observations of nature. He noticed how vortexes always appeared in nature, which led to his discovery of how heart valves and circulation worked. This was only scientifically proved two decades ago. Even with the lack of technology, Da Vinci was able to discover things that no one had even imagined.
Da Vinci was also an inventor. He used nature to inspire his inventions but also invented different weapons to study the relationship between size and force. He invented a working glider based off of watching birds fly and making many observations on the way that they moved. If Leonardo Da Vinci had been able to build the glider that he designed and test it, he would have not only beat the Wright brothers’ records, but would also have flown centuries before them. Da Vinci also designed a crossbow that had the ability to have the size of its arms changed to discover the most powerful crossbow.
Through his observations of nature, Da Vinci attempted to solve mechanical problems. He was interested in taking different things from nature or aspects of nature and giving them other uses, especially in the human body. Da Vinci had begun to explore replacing parts of the human body with mechanical parts, along with making a mechanical version of a human, or robot.
In conclusion, there is no one in modern times that can compare to the genius and accomplishments of Leonardo Da Vinci. He was an artist, an inventor, and Master of Science discovering things centuries before his time. No one in present time can speak of equivalent achievements. Even in future centuries, people will still be looking at Da Vinci as an amazing painter, scientist and inventor.
Who, in present day, is ahead of the time? Who is so innovative and intellectually advanced that they are capable of accurately planning incredible and unthought-of feats of engineering? Who has made revolutionary discoveries about the human body that change the way the entire world thinks? Who has ideas so complex and detailed that they need to invent new methods of drawing to perfectly portray their ideas? Who is the modern-day Da Vinci?
One could take someone like Steve Jobs, former CEO of Apple Inc., and say that he was innovator who made audio and computer use simpler and more stylish with his Apple technology models that are popular all over the world. Then one could compare Jobs to Bill Gates, who (although now 'ancient' in terms of Jobs) founded Microsoft and revolutionized data sharing with the world-wide web. Though Jobs and Gates were smart businessmen and revolutionary innovators, these men are certainly not 'Da Vinci's'. There simply is no modern-day Da Vinci because all of the innovators in the world are working together: teams of engineers splitting atoms, teams of doctors performing life-saving surgeries that were unheard of years ago... everyone who is intellectually ahead of the game are working together.
Da Vinci was truly a genius whose studies of human anatomy, flight, mechanical engineering and his artwork were revolutionary and advanced for his time period. His most impressive design was a difficult engineering project even for modern-day engineers with advanced machinery and tools: the 50ft crossbow. It was designed to fire a cannonball 300 yards, with bow limbs of fresh ash tree trunk 40 feet long. It's first attempt by engineers was a failure: the cannonball was shot a mere 50 yards. How could a man who lived during the Renaissance understand the mechanics required to fire a cannonball such a great distance? Although modern day engineers did make the process of creating Da Vinci's crossbow more complicated than necessary, Da Vinci was able to create a feat of engineering without any modern-day intelligence or tools required to build it.
Da Vinci's sketches of his ideas were meticulously drawn so that his ideas could be accurately read - he even had to invent methods of drawing such as the 'exploded view' and 'transparent sketch' in order to properly show his ideas. He was observant, and his observations became hypotheses which he tested in experiments. One of his observations included the spiral pattern of flight of birds and in the movement of water. Da Vinci wondered if blood flowed in that same pattern, or 'vortex formation', through the heart. He tested his idea with a model heart, so exact to the organ that it is baffling to scientists and doctors as to how he could create a model so perfectly.
Leonardo Da Vinci cannot be compared to any modern-day man. We know so much now, and we are not (and perhaps cannot) take such enormous strides in innovation like Da Vinci. We are taking small steps towards the world's future.
After watching the documentary on Leonardo Da Vinci I do not believe anyone compares to him. Throughout history no one has accomplished as much as Da Vinci did in as many subjects as he did. As well I think it is difficult to see a Leonardo Da Vinci of your own time. For Da Vinci he was not recognized as being an amazing inventor he was charged with heresy by the Catholic Church because his works were not understood by people. Da Vinci was a brilliant man and best known as being an artist but he also studied in other areas such as architecture, biology, astronomy, anatomy, geography, geology and paleontology. Today we only have about one quarter of Da Vinci’s total works and are still amazed at the discoveries he made.
One of Da Vinci’s most amazing creations was the first glider. He made the discovery of flight centuries before the Wright brothers invented their own glider. Da Vinci was fascinated with flight and birds and he used what he studied from them to help create this glider which was very bird-like in structure. Da Vinci used aspects of nature to help him make new inventions such as his glider.
In the subject of anatomy Da Vinci made discoveries about the heart and how it circulated throughout the body. No one of his time understood these discoveries and there was no way to prove it the way you can through modern technology. He drew amazing anatomical sketches that are still used by people today. Da Vinci used his knowledge of the human body to help him make his art work. He studied all the muscles of the face before he painted the Mona Lisa, and was very precise in his works.
There is no one in modern times that compares to Leonardo Da Vinci. Although there are many brilliant people of the world who make amazing new discoveries every day I do not believe any one has made as many ad Da Vinci did in his time. His discoveries were very influential and still continue to help people if modern times.
Few men in history have had the widespread impact that Leonardo Da Vinci has left in his wake. Even fewer have been as “universal” of a person as he was. As opposed to being an expert in simply one area, Da Vinci was and expert in many. His inventions were well ahead of his time and his artistic skills were bettered by his incomprehensible knowledge of the human anatomy.
As we saw in the documentary, Da Vinci not only studied a vast range of subjects but he was also able to connect them together. His flying machine was based mainly in part by his comprehensive study of the flight of birds and his paintings were draw with precision only after studying the workings of the human bodies, such as the movement of facial muscles for the Mona Lisa. How many artists of his time, even now, would do that? His ability to put into use what he had learned from his studies is one of Da Vinci’s most distinguishing traits.
Furthermore, Da Vinci’s influence goes far beyond most other figures in history. Most of the few that top him in that area are religious persons. There is no argument that there were other people since him who have been just as intelligent, if not more so. However, with all due respect, how many of them are actually known by the general public? More often than not people have heard of Leonardo Da Vinci but to bet that most people have heard of the other people mention above, (Calder, Jansen, etc.) would be a grave mistake. In modern day, his influences stretch from flight to art to anatomy; all three, which one would never connect together, has been touched by Da Vinci. Even Einstein, whose name is just as familiar as his, has influenced only a few fields of science and math, far behind Leonardo.
In conclusion Leonardo Da Vinci was a one of a kind man. Not only was the incredibly broad range of subjects that he studied amazing but his expertise in each was absolutely astonishing. He was an inventor, an artist, and a scientist. His discoveries and knowledge were centuries ahead of his time and the top of the line technologies today are only capable of little more than he was able to accomplish. His influence today is unprecedented for a non-religious figure and his name is as widely known as modern celebrities. Da Vinci was a man whose abilities have never been repeated as of today and I don’t expect it to be any time soon.
Although Leonardo Da Vinci was born centuries ago, it’s absolutely remarkable to continue to see his influences scattered throughout modern science and culture. Although he received much of his knowledge from the simple principles around him, he was able to take what most of us take for granted, and turn it into remarkable feats of ingenuity. To even think of comparing Da Vinci to a modern figure is simply impossible, due to his unique genius and radical thoughts that were unlike anything his time had ever seen.
It’s important to note that during the time span of Da Vinci’s life, the Catholic Church was firmly controlling Italy. One had to think about what they were going to say, and act in a way that was deemed proper. Some people in the Renaissance were snuffed out existence due to their radical thoughts. Da Vinci was in a whole other league though. The experiments he did undermined the very fabric of society, and the Church. His train of thought was so different, and so radical that by performing his works, he risked his own life. This extreme radical sense of thinking seems to be impossible in modern times. To earn the title of the modern day Da Vinici, one must have bold ideas so different from normal society that if they were to be published, a scientific revolution would unfold. In the Renaissance, this would have taken the form of one of Da Vinci’s flying machines, or even some of his precise anatomical models. For modern times, it would seem that none recently have changed the face of society as much as Da Vinci.
What truly sets Da Vinci apart from every other figure in history was his ability to craft his complex, and futuristic inventions from his surroundings. From observing the simplicity, and elegance of many of nature’s divine properties, Da Vinci was able to deduce the factors that gave his experiments their futuristic qualities. It seems as though much of modern science is focused on improvement, rather than the creation of new technologies. There tends to be a belief in the present times of human superiority to nature and all other animals. Because of this thought, science has progressed relatively slowly compared the rapid advancements Da Vinci was making in his own life time. Although the in class video showed that science is continuously moving towards mimicking the traits of nature, it’s not as complete of a process that Da Vinci showed the Renaissance.
On top of all of the discovery and ingenuity shown by Da Vinci, he was the one of the most exemplary examples of Renaissance art. Similar to Michelangelo and Raphael, Da Vinci was able to create depth, mastered the flow of light, and was able to create an accurate portrayal of humans that was unheard of in his day. He took his scientific understandings of life, nature, and anatomy, and elegantly portrayed each feature with a sense of grace. Da Vinci was not only a master of science, but of culture as well. There is no one in modern times that seems to have such remarkable grasp on culture, as well as science; rather one or the other. Stephen Hawking, and even Albert Einstein are one of the most highly accredited scientists of the modern era. However, they specialized their abilities to furthering science, unlike Da Vinci who was able to further art as well.
In conclusion, there simply is no “modern Da Vinci”. In all uses of the word, Leonardo Da Vinci was pure genius. He was an unstoppable force of scientific progress, precise observation and cultural identity. There seems to be no one of the modern day that can even come close to all of the amazing discoveries Da Vinci made in only a few decades, and it is doubtful that anyone will ever become more influential as well.
Leonardo Da Vinci was an incredible artist, designer, chemist and much more. He has left an incredibly large footprint on this world. His artistic ability and architectural designs have had a great impact on everyone. Even today, we still use many of his designs in ways we do not even realize. Leonardo is a hard act to follow and it takes a very unique person to be able to follow his footsteps. However I think there are very few people who have done Leonardo justice. Though there are not many people who have such amazing ability, I think one man who can compete with Leonardo is Steve Jobs.
Steve Jobs is the co-founder of Apple Inc. Steve created the very first iPod. As we all remember, when the iPod came out it was a huge phenomenon. Steve worked rigorously on the iPod until it was complete and perfected. It takes a very patient and intelligent mind to create something so technologically advanced and ahead of its time. Steve would not give up on his designs until they were exactly what he wanted. He was determined, intellectual, unique, and an innovative individual. These are the same characteristics and qualities that Leonardo Da Vinci possessed. They both share the love for designing and inventing new creations. They created things the human eye had never been exposed to before. DaVinci created the hang-glider, which was never proposed by anyone before him. Jobs created the iPod, which was a technological beauty to the twenty first century. Both of these men possess a distinctive thirst for innovating new advances that will forever impress each one of us. It takes a very particular, individualistic, hard-working mind to be able to do what these men have done.
Leonardo Da Vinci was an artist, designer, scientist, architecture from hundreds of years ago. Yet he is still a commonly heard, popular name. It takes a lot for one who lived hundreds of years ago to be remembered still to this day. There are not many people I can think of who are still so popular for such amazing work from so long ago. I think Steve Jobs obtains the qualities needed to be remembered hundreds of years in the future. Like Da Vince, he created one thing and kept going from there. He did not stop after one masterpiece was made. They kept improving their work more and more. The iPod family has now grown to many more inventions than just the iPod. The iPod was a creation that will not be easily forgotten and though it may change through time into improved versions, the logo iPod will always be remembered with the name Steve Jobs.
Steve Jobs and Leonardo Da Vinci both have qualities that have taken them a very long way. People will always look up to them both as role models and men who have impacted the lives of all of us greatly. It is very hard to fill the shoes of Leonardo Da Vinci and there may never be one person who can do that task quite to perfection, however Steve Jobs comes awful close to filling those shoes.
Leonardo Da Vinci was truly a man ahead of his time. His theories and discoveries were so advanced for his time that he is still being referred to in many modern applications such as medicine and many others even though they have modified. They are still extremely accurate and unbelievably easy to apply to modern science from a man hundreds of years in the past. His wide range of studies also made him more of an amazing man. Although there have been many impressive people since then the most amazing has probably been Albert Einstein. Even though he was not as spread out in his studies, his influence on modern science has made it a major foundation. He was also far ahead of his time. The man is known all across the globe and even has a show for toddlers named after him.
Albert Einstein had many theories that they are just now being able to be tested and proved. It has actually been a very hard time disproving his theories. Only one is in the process of being disproved right now, but Einstein was barely wrong at all. This man was way ahead of his time in his theories and equations just like Da Vinci. He has provided so much for modern discoveries in physics. The technology that Da Vinci needed to prove his theories were non-existent back then but now they are. The same is with Einstein. He did not have the proper equipment to prove his theories. Now we do have the proper methods and equipment to test the theories which have been for the most part correct. He has not had as many studies as Da Vinci but they are still very important. I believe once all his theories are able to be proved; he will be viewed in the near future as someone like Da Vinci.
In modern society today there is not a current Davinci. As seen through the video he was an inventor and scientist. He was centuries ahead of his time and his innovative ideas will not and have not been matched by any prominent figure in any period of history.
Leonardo Da Vinci not only invented new ideas of artwork but he also impacted the science field. One reason was that he was the first person ever to create an accurate drawing of the human body and the cardo vascular system. The reason why this stands out is because scientist still use his concept of how the heart contracts like a valve to supply proper blood circulation to the rest of the human body. His in depth depiction and analysis of human antomy was one particular reason for his genius like reputation in modern society today. However there are many others that support his unmatched intelligence.
Another factor that seperates him from any other innovative person in history, was his theory on aeruonautical sciences. One example from the video was how he invented his design for the glider which had excellent success when experimented with scientist six centuries later. Another mind blowing theory the scientists discovered from Da Vinci was his lift theory. To them this was a shock because that was believed to only be a modern invention used on major airplanes today. The technique that a thicker wing creates lift is yet another invention by Da Vinci produced six centuries ago. Yet another feat not matched by any historical scientist.
One last drawing by Da Vinci that adds on to his reputation was his infamous painting "The Mona Lisa," arguably the most intriguing painting ever produced. Not only was the facial expression advanced artwork but it represented the work Da Vinci put in to create the piece. His studies on the facial expressions and several jaw muscles also helped signify his revelance in modern day sceince. It relates to modern technology because scientists have used numerous sketchings from Da Vinci and studied the basics to help create robotic technology. These drawings helped make modern day robots more humanlike with facial expressions and specific jaw movements. This also adds on to his dynasty of knowledge.
Overall there is not a modern day Da Vinci because of the revelance of his work, which has lasted over a span of six centuries and covers nunerous subjects of the scientific field. There is not a present day human being with this spectrum of knowledge and adavanced studies.
After seeing the Leonardo Da Vinci video I maintain a strong disbelief that there ever has, and ever will be another Leonardo Da Vinci. He is most famous for his exquisite painting of the Mona Lisa however he was also a extremely talented in the fields of architecture, math, botany, and anatomy. His discoveries and inventions were hundreds of years ahead of his time, there is no one in society today that can come close to the intelligence that Da Vinci possessed.
Leonardo Da Vinci closely observed the world around him. While watching nature, one of his many passions, he noticed the vortex's forming in a pond. Most people would not think anything of this however Da Vinci was different. He hypothesized that vortex's were always forming on earth, and therefore they must form within the human body. Da Vinci took his curiosity one step further when he built a model of the human heart to see how the blood would flow. Sure enough, the blood was flowing in the vortex formation that Leonardo had observed in the pond. Modern day scientists had not discovered this until a couple years ago. The technology used to discover the blood flow within a heart was far more advance than anything Da Vinci was using. This one example proved that there is no Da Vinci of our time. It took an entire team of scientists and the most advanced technology to discover what one man discovered on his own by simply observing the world around him.
Along with his discoveries in anatomy, Leonardo also made many advancements in the engineering field. Due to the fact that he was always inventing new devices Da Vinci had to create a new style of drawing in order to express his ideas. No one before him had ever seen or created a technical drawing like the ones Da Vinci did. His drawings were so detailed and accurate that engineers today were able to look at them and create the inventions that only existed in his head. In the documentary a group of architects, engineers, and pilots were able to construct Da Vinci's flying machine from one of his sketches. Though minor adjustments were made, his machine beat the record of the Wright Brothers! Leonardo was able to create this machine by once again studying nature and observing how birds fly. Therefore he once again proved that he was far ahead of his time, and no one not even the Wright Brothers could compare to him.
There is no one in todays society that would be looked at as the modern Da Vinci. His sketches, paintings, and books have proved time and time again that he was far more advanced then anyone could have imagined. His ability to understand and create was centuries ahead of anyone around him. Though recently scientists have made significant advancements in the fields that Da Vinci worked in, it was with the use of technology. All Leonardo Da Vinci had was the world around him and his own thoughts.
Leonardo Da Vinci is revered as being an absolute genius, when in fact he was much more than a genius, thinking centuries ahead of his time. I don’t think that there is or ever will be a person like Da Vinci. His study of human anatomy and flight were some of his greatest ideas. As well as being a fantastic artist, he was an inventor, and he studied architecture, zoology, anatomy, and many other things.
Da Vinci’s study of the human cardiovascular system was so precise and advanced that his anatomical drawings could not be proven as being true until modern day technology was developed. He discovered that blood flowed throughout the body and how the heart worked; he even discovered how valves in the heart worked and designed an artificial valve. Had Da Vinci had the supplies, his valve design could have been made a reality.
Another one of his designs that was centuries ahead of its time was his flying machine. When modern day engineers built this flying machine and tested it, they were surprised that it flew. This design was made 400 years before the Wright brothers’ first flight, yet his flying machine worked. It flew, and surprisingly enough it flew farther than the Wright brothers’ first flight.
This all goes to show how Leonardo Da Vinci’s mind was centuries ahead of his time unlike anyone nowadays. No one in the present can be compared to Leonardo Da Vinci because although technology is very advanced in comparison to that of Da Vinci’s time, he was thinking hundreds of years ahead of his time. Currently, no one is developing anything that far ahead of the present, and I doubt that anyone will make an advances like that for quite some time, and this is why there is no such thing as a Modern Day Da Vinci.
Leonardo Da Vinci was one of the greatest minds to ever walk on earth. He was a painter, engineer, mathematician, scientist, and much more. Finding somebody who exists to day that is equal to Da Vinci is impossible. No man has matched up to his level of intelligence. With such a wide variety of knowledge and his pursuit for further discovery, he has become known as one of the greatest humans to ever live.
Some of his greatest work was his study of the human body. Anatomy fascinated Da Vinci. He had an overwhelming urge to discover how body parts, such as the heart, worked. And that is just what he did. Da Vinci’s drawings of the human heart are very accurate and he was centuries ahead of this time in terms of his knowledge of the heart. The aspects of the heart and how it worked depicted in his drawings were not proven for hundreds of years after his time by using new technology. Today, doctors are still fascinated by Da Vinci’s accuracy.
What Da Vinci was most fascinated about however was flight. He wanted to create a machine that would provide a person that ability. He studied nature and how birds fly before creating his own drawings of a device. The machine that he drew up in his notebooks were very advanced. A human did not fly until the early 1900’s, and yet hundreds of year prior, a man had devised a machine that would have been successful. Although many people did not believe so, his flying machine would have worked. Da Vinci took into account weight, size, shape, and even lift. He knew that he needed the front of the wings to be thicker than the back of the wings in order to be able to fly. Nobody in his time knew that. This is just one more example about how amazingly ingenious this man truly was.
There are many more subjects that Da Vinci studied, and they are far to many to discuss. His use of knowledge in his paintings, however, is very interesting. The Mona Lisa, undoubtably the most famous work of art in history, was extremely advanced for his time as well. His use of mathematics to be precise as well his study of the anatomy of humans to be very accurate in that respect are very noticeable in the painting. He studied the human face and all the muscles in it to making sure that his painting was the best and most accurate it could be. I think this attitude of trying to do his best to make everything correct sets him apart from every other human,
Da Vinci is a man who may never be matched in terms of his intellectual ability or his vast studies. There is no man or woman on earth who can be compared to him, because no human being has ever had such a drive to understand the world as much as Leonardo Da Vinci did. Da Vinci died at the age of 67. He was in the middle of cataloging all his notebook when he died. Much of his work was lost. It is said that only about one fifth of his drawings and other works still exist today. Imagine if we had all of his drawings.
It seems that the pure sagacity and brilliance of Da Vinci is incomparable to any human that ever existed. His knowledge and findings were astounding not only in depth, but scope. Still, he was not the only who could be considered such a demigod of wisdom. Benjamin Franklin, a source of national pride, was nearly as ingenious. The two men were alike in their personalities. Da Vinci was entirely opposed to war, which he viewed as despicable, as did Frankin, shown in his well known quip, “There never was a good war or a bad peace.” Another quotation of Franklin’s, “to relieve the misfortunes of our fellow creatures is concurring with the Deity” shows the compassionate feelings that he shared with Da Vinci, who used to go to the market place and buy birds just to set them free. And, while Franklin certainly had no abhorrence to the female reproductive organs like Da Vinci did, they both took great observation and learning from nature. Benjamin’s ingenuity in a wide range of fields can be compared to Da Vinci’s, for he too was a man of wide learning. Da Vinci was incredible in his medical discoveries, like his invention of a synthetic aortic valve. Ben was not very well known for any advancement in bioscience, but he developed a flexible urinary catheter, most likely the first in America, to help his brother with his kidney stones. Being tired of constantly taking off and putting on his glasses to see near and far, Ben invented the bifocals. In his old age, Franklin had trouble reaching to the tops of book shelves, so he invented the long arm, a pole of wood with a claw at the end. Franklin IS indeed well known for his advancements in learning about electricity, as his story with the kite and lightning celebrates. While Da Vinci is not known for too many steps toward better society, Franklin took that domain as one of his most important. He established the first fire company and the first fire insurance company to accompany his invention of an iron furnace stove to warm colonial homes. Most famously, he was a brilliant thinker in the political realm, serving as an ambassador and being vital to the creation of the United States Constitution. Da Vinci was not big in politics, but he was a philosopher of sorts, and both he and Franklin were very much pioneers of new ideas. Da Vinci was the first to show how to best illustrate anatomical observations. Perhaps there is no comparison between the works of art of Da Vinci and anyone else, but Franklin did produce numerous cartoons that proved to be very valuable and amusing to the people of the United States as a form of political propaganda and as a practical way to bring society to reason. It is easy to say that without either of these two men, the world and its history would be far less remarkable.
Leonardo da Vinci was a man whose intelligence exceeded the understanding of many intellectuals of his time, and still continues to confound us today. There is no doubt that Da Vinci is one of the greatest philosophers, scientists and engineers of all time. Da Vinci was able to design inventions that are even difficult to build with our technology today. Not only were the inventions themselves outstanding, but the drawings and diagrams that Da Vinci created a whole new view on engineering and technical drawing with his exploded view, and anatomical sketches, which were extremely advanced for his time. Da Vinci was able to observe nature in a light that had never been exposed before. He believed that everything could be learned from observing nature, it was just a matter of extracting the right information. With a man of this talent and remarkable mental capacity, it is difficult to compare any one to his achievements.
There are many figures in history whom have said to be a rival to Da Vinci’s level of intelligence and insight. Some of these people are Thomas Jefferson; a brilliant man who had a progressive vision of a republic nation, who spoke several different languages, contributed to one of the most important documents in our nation’s history (the Declaration of Independence), and was thoroughly interested in science. Albert Einstein is another name that is widely known and holds the connotations of genius. He was a most impressive thinker who developed numerous scientific theorems, the most popular being E=MC^2. However, even these accomplishments, in the opinion of this student, cannot compare with the works of the great Da Vinci.
Leonardo Da Vinci’s intelligence was a force to be reckoned with; his insight was so ingenious one can only imagine how his brain manage to produce such ground breaking and remarkable postulates and inventions. Not only was Da Vinci a brilliant inventor, but his talents were so diverse, and he was just as gifted in each of the fields he is known for. His paintings, for example, are absolutely amazing, and accurate. They would not have been so astounding had Da Vinci not been so well versed in the study of human anatomy. To paint Mona Lisa’s mouth correctly, Da Vinci studied several muscles in the human face; which leads to his works in the field of anatomy. Da Vinci was able to observe the vertex formation in nature, as seen in ripples of water and in the wind under a bird’s wings, and was able to apply the motion to the human heart. He assumed that this was the way in which blood circulated through the heart; and this was during a time when no one even knew blood circulated through the body! He was able to draw images of a heart that were so accurate, they can be compared with screened pictures of a heart taken with today’s technology and the differences are infinitesimal.
While there have been many intelligent thinkers throughout history who have achieved greatness, I do not believe there is anyone who can be compared to the infamous Leonardo Da Vinci. His works were well beyond his years and it is mind blowing to think of how he could have conjured up all his accurate inventions and discoveries that are still being evaluated today. It is a shame that we do not have all his complete works. One can only imagine the ingenious contributions Da Vinci made in the fields of botany, anatomy, art, and philosophy that will never be revealed. And who knows, maybe there will be another Da Vinci in the generations to come, who can fill in the gaps and provide insight to a world that is not to come for centuries.
Da Vinci was a genius of all subjects; he was centuries ahead of his time. He was a painter, engineer, biologist, inventor, and essentially a master of science. He made discoveries that weren’t confirmed until a few decades ago. I would not say that there is a modern day Da Vinci. Certainly, there are geniuses of specific subject matters, but we have no modern all subject genius like Da Vinci.
In the video we saw the two groups test some of the plans and inventions that they found in Da Vinci’s notes. One of the inventions was a hang glider. The group created and tested the invention and found that it broke the Wright brothers’ record of their “first flight.” As it turns out, they might not have been “first in flight,” Da Vinci might have beaten them to centuries before. Da Vinci made extraordinary discoveries in aeronautics just by watching the flight of birds.
Da Vinci also made astounding discoveries and sketches on anatomy. Much of the biological discoveries that he made were very controversial during his time, which may have led to the destruction of some of his notes. Though controversial, they were surprisingly accurate. Many of his sketches of the muscle and bone structures that he made can still be applied in modern medicine. It is hard for someone of our modern era to think about all the amazing discoveries he made with the resources he had. We use our “advanced” technology that does scans of the body to show us where the muscles are in a human body. He made the exact same discoveries and drawings without any of the equipment that we now have.
I don’t think that anyone before or since Di Vinci has ever made such astronomical discoveries and advancements in so many fields of study. His work in aeronautics, biology, engineering, art, and much more seems more like the work of several lifetimes, rather than just one man in the Renaissance. There is no one that can compare to his level of intellect even with all the modern advancements that we have. Da Vinci was, and still is, an insuperable genius.
Leonardo da Vinci was truly a once in a generation human being. As far as I know, nobody else in history can compare to him. In my opinion, there is no “modern day da Vinci” because nobody mastered various fields and subjects like he did. Sure, Bill Gates and Steve Job are geniuses in the computer and electronic world. However, they don’t have much credibility in other fields.
For example, da Vinci impacted several subjects, such as the human body, art, and flight. He created an amazingly accurate diagram of the human heart. Scientists today have been baffled by his description of the heart. He accurately described the function and sizes of the heart’s valves thousands of years before we did. It is amazing how he could comprehend the heart without the technology and resources that we have today.
Another example of how da Vinci was like no other human being is that he also had a huge impact on art. He painted the Mona Lisa, which is arguably the most famous painting across the world. The smile of Mona Lisa is one reason why the artwork is phenomenal. According to the video, da Vinci studied over 15 face muscles and implemented them in this painting. The Mona Lisa is famous for having eyes that always look at the viewer of the painting, no matter where he or she is located. This feature is another example of why this painting, as well as Leonardo da Vinci, was brilliant and ahead of its time.
Da Vinci also had a huge impact on flight. He designed a hanglider that blew the minds of modern experts on flying. This design was also ahead of its time. Da Vinci incorporated the lift theory, which today’s experts thought could only be used in modern day.
In conclusion, Leonardo da Vinci was a genius who was way ahead of his time. Nobody today can be compared to him because nobody has impacted several fields like he has. The footprint he left hundreds of years ago has not faded one bit, as his work and findings are still admired constantly today.
After watching the Da Vinci video in class, I believe that there is no one like Leonardo Da Vinci. He was a once in a millennia character. No one in this time is viewed as a genius, an amazing artist, and person who was a man of very diverse talents. Very few people can compete with Da Vinci’s painting masterpieces throughout history, and no one is as sought after as he was during his life.
Furthermore, Da Vinci loved to study nature and the human body. There are many scientists who know the workings of the body through x-rays and other inventions, but Da Vinci knew about them before those electronics came about. His brilliance and deduction allowed him to understand anatomy extremely well. Though there might be other people who may understand things currently unknown to most men, we will not know this until technology proves them right or wrong. We know Da Vinci was incredibly accurate with his knowledge, such as his model of the heart and aorta valve, but during his time, almost all people had no idea of this.
In addition, Leonardo Da Vinci was a very intelligent engineer. He drew and sketched entirely new objects and ideas for humans at that time. Flying machines, as well as long range catapults are some examples. Da Vinci was the man who came up with architectural and engineering drawings. His exploded views give a detailed explanation for his works. Because of his ingenuity, his detailed drawing style is still widely used today. As a result, Da Vinci is a unique man, and no one is this time period can be considered as brilliant, diverse, and well known as him.
Having witnessed Leonardo Da Vinci’s contributions to both science and art that were several centuries ahead of their time, I can safely conclude that there hasn’t been a single person throughout these past five hundred years who has contributed to the humanities and sciences as much as Leonardo has. Having said this, it goes without saying that it is extremely unlikely that neither we, nor will the generations ahead of us ever witness a polymath that will reach deductions and create blueprints for technologies that are five hundred years ahead of their time. Da Vinci has made several blueprints for designs that are difficult to replicate even with today’s highly advanced technology. An example of such a design would be the giant crossbow he conceived. In the documentary, a team of skilled craftsmen attempted to realize these designs and turn them into reality. However, even they were unable to fully comprehend the meaning of Da Vinci’s blue prints and the giant crossbow they created turned out to be a failure. One of the members of the team even goes to say that Da Vinci, a man who lived in the 15th century would have been annoyed with the way they attempted to create the crossbow by today’s advanced means.
Da Vinci’s greatest dream was to build a “flying machine” and he created blueprints for a device to realize this dream. However, he was unable to build the device and it was never made in his time. A team of people would test his blueprints to determine if the machine he envisioned could actually fly. Although the team diverted from Da Vinci’s design slightly to add some safety precautions for the pilot, the machine was capable of flight and even surpassed the Wright Brother’s record of sustained flight. This leads to the astounding realization that Da Vinci could have created a flying machine more advanced than the Wright Brother’s four hundred years earlier if he only had more time to live.
One can only wondered how he managed to discover so much in his investigations of the human heart and circulation without today’s modern medical technology. We know through his drawings of the heart that he was well acquainted with how the heart functioned. He somehow discovered that the heart had four chambers and that the heart was a muscle, which contradicted the teachings of the Catholic Church during his team. Some of his findings in anatomy were only proven recently through the most advanced technology. We will probably never discover how Da Vinci managed to find out so much about the heart without any sort of technology or any prior knowledge to guide him.
To only call Da Vinci a genius would be an insult, what with his revolutionary discoveries and findings that were many centuries ahead of his time. The well-known geniuses of today such as Bill Gates and Warren Buffet may have made massive contributions in one respective field, however they worked off of an established base of information and again, in only one field. Da Vinci however, worked with no prior background knowledge to go off of and made contributions in many fields of science and art. Da Vinci transcended the limitations of the average human mind and went further beyond in a way that would be impossible or extremely difficult to replicate.
Of the seven billion human beings alive at this very moment, and even among the one hundred billion to have ever lived, it is doubtful that any of them can or could have matched the genius, ingenuity, and creativity of Leonardo de Vinci. Possibly people like Albert Einstein and Stephen Hawking possess intellect equal to de Vinci, but their studies are confined to a small amount on information, while Leonardo devoted himself to unraveling the world. De Vinci was an Italian philosopher, painter, inventor, scientist, writer, mathematician, engineer, inventor of the technical drawing, and absolute genius that not even the child of Albert Einstein and Stephen Hawking could compare to, if it were possible. In a time and place where knowledge and free speech was controlled by the Roman Catholic Church, Leonardo was spending his days thinking radical thoughts and writing down radical ideas.
One such radical idea was a glider. Normally, flying was reserved for angels, but Leonardo set out to find its secrets. Oddly, he did this by simply watching the flights of birds and bats. He then sketched a design of a glider that used the concepts of lift, yaw, and roll to steer, four hundred years before the Wright brothers added the name, "Kitty Hawk," to their vocabulary. A team of engineers constructed de Vinci's sketch, and amazingly, the glider flew farther than the Wright brothers' first flight.
Several of Leonardo's scientific theories were so advanced that modern scientists could not confirm them until technology caught up in the mid-90's. His theory of vortex formation, the workings of the heart, and brain development are a few of his complex theories.
It is undisputable that Leonardo de Vinci has no modern equivalent. His advancements, though they did not help the communities of science and learning to a great extent, showed his true genius and ability to capture the world around him in words and drawings.
In the words "Manos de Piedra," "No Mas!"
Leonardo Da Vinci; A man known for his artwork, sculpting, architecture, mathematics, philosophies, as well as scientific discoveries which are even being tested and proven to this day. He was a unique man, one who has not “met his match” even today. His engineering skills and evaluation of the heart are some of his most outstanding achievements. Because of his individualistic accomplishments that are still being evaluated presently, there is no “modern day Da Vinci.”
In the film viewed in class, groups of modern engineers and historians attempted to mimic the work of Da Vinci on what would be considered as a modern hang glider and catapult. In order to fully achieve the work of Da Vinci, the team worked with older technology. For example, to split the wood, a hatchet was used instead of a saw that would commonly be used today. Even using today’s advanced technology the group faced several difficulties. The catapult broke, and the woman flying in the hang glider continuously crashed about an hour before getting a better understanding of how to fly. The film demonstrates how even today a group of scientists are incapable of recreating some of the works and discoveries of Da Vinci.
In today’s society, although groups of people may be credited for doing great things, no one person has been able to match Da Vinci. He was what some would consider “the whole package.” Although many today specialize in specific areas the same as Da Vinci, none have flourished in the same amount which Da Vinci himself had. He excelled in mathematics, engineering, specifically demonstrated through his advanced designs and drawings, philosophies, artwork, and much more! Currently, the painting Mona Lisa is internationally known and highly respected. One of the most famous paintings of all time, few have come close to matching it. Its individuality is one that will be remembered and recognized for several more years to come. His scientific evaluation of the heart is also an accomplishment that still astounds people to this day. Lacking advanced technology, Da Vinci was capable of mapping and drawing detailed diagrams of the heart, which even included discoveries of valves.
Although listed above are only some of Da Vinci’s achievements, it is evident that Da Vinci was one of a kind. His new discoveries in a wide variety of subjects have taken the world by storm and affected how we even function today. Based on his immeasurable success, there is no “modern Da Vinci.”
Leonardo Da Vinci is an individual of uneqivocally great genius. He was a master of not just one but several disciplines including astronomy, engineering, medicine, sculpture, painting, and aviation. Today their are several people who possess this type of genius in one area perhaps but in no way shape or form is their another person who has the level of knowledge and intellect that Da Vinci did. Even those who consider Shakespeare to be a creative genius are woefully mistaken as the merits of Da Vinci are much greater on almost every level. During his time the process of mechanical drawings did not even exsist and it was he who brought this innovation to the table along with many other ideas that just recently in modern society we have been able to implement. Heart surgery is a great example his genius, is just recently, when relatively speaking, scientists were able to perfect heart transplants so that the rate of survival is much higher and the procedure is operable on most patients that are eligible. To think that Da Vinci theorized this procedure centuries ago and humans are just now able to put his thoughts into action is amazing.
Da Vinci put his sole focus into his work and took his studies very seriously. He was never romantically involved with anyone and probably benefitted from not having the distractions of technology that we have today such as television, social networking, cell phones, and the internet in general. However in modern times individuals who have a high level of intellect and knowledge of the scientific world are celebrated while in Europe at the time Da Vinci ran the risk of being named a Heretic by the church and executed if he failed to stop his studies.
In conclusion, Da Vinci was a man unlike any other that has ever exsisted. His contributions to both the art and scientific world are more than just exceptional, one could go to say they are divine in nature and the world would be lucky to have another Da Vinci ever again.
When I first heard I was going to see the rap Canterbury tales, I wasn't really sure what to expect. I pictured a guy reciting Chaucer’s words really quickly, and everyone in the theatre not being able to pick up what he said. However, Baba’s approach to the rap Canterbury tales was the opposite of that. I enjoyed the performance because I was able to relate to his modern version of the tales. His reference to modern day rap songs and celebrities turned the Canterbury Tales into an analogy I could understand.
I do believe Brinkman’s approach to the Canterbury Tales was scholarly. First off, it takes a lyrical genius to be able to take the main themes of the Tales and create a rap that people can relate to and encompasses the general idea (not to mention one that rhymes). Secondly, aspect that made his work scholarly was the fact that he studied who his audience was, and tried to appeal to everyone. He realized there were the tourists, who were only there for entertainment, and the purists, who want to hear a rap that is an accurate depiction of the Canterbury Tales. After realizing this, it is apparent Baba put in a tremendous amount of time crafting his raps so they appealed to both the purists and the tourists. Therefore, his work proves scholarly because he kept all the relevant themes of the Canterbury Tales, but was able to tell the stories/themes in modern day language which kept the tourists entertained.
I also think Baba’s work is relevant to a modern appreciation of Chaucer. Baba clearly spent many hours reading and interpreting the Tales, and picked out the themes in the stories, such as sex, trickery, and greed. He then took these main themes of the story and was able to express them in modern ways by using references to rap artists, pop culture, and a catchy beat.
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