Journal: News & Comment

More ultimate genius

Permalinks to this entry: individual page or in monthly context. For more material from my journal, visit my home page or the archive.

Leonardo da Vinci was certainly a genius, but we realize it even more now that researchers have determined he sabotaged his own designs. In his plans for devices with military uses, Leonardo, a pacifist, seems to have included simple but fatal flaws which, while difficult to detect in his drawings, prevented the final designs from working when built.

So his tank won't drive because the gears work against each other and his glider won't fly because he set up the forces to work against proper aerodynamics. Yet in each instance, the flaw is singular, not systemic, and goes against things Leonardo demonstrated he knew very well in his other work.

 |