Leonardo da Vinci

Leonardo da Vinci epitomized the Renaissance ideal of the universal genius. Though not a scientist in the modern, theoretical sense, his unparalleled powers of observation, detailed recording, and inventive engineering were profoundly scientific. His thousands of pages of notebooks reveal groundbreaking studies in human anatomy (based on dissection), hydrodynamics, geology, botany, and flight. He designed visionary machines—helicopters, tanks, and parachutes—centuries before they were feasible. His artistic mastery was informed by his scientific study of light, perspective, and human proportion. While his work was largely unpublished and thus had limited direct influence on the Scientific Revolution, he represents the pinnacle of empirical inquiry, curiosity, and the interdisciplinary fusion of art, science, and engineering.