History of medicine: Leonardo da Vinci

Also known as

• Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci

 

Born

• 1452 : Birth in Tuscany, Republic of Florence (modern Italy).  
• ~1466 (aged 14) : Became a garzone (studio boy) in the workshop of Verrocchio.
• 1472 (aged 20) : Qualified as a master in the Guild of Saint Luke. 
• ~1490 : Created Le proporzioni del corpo umano secondo Vitruvio.
• 1515 : Milan recaptured by the Kingdom of France.
• 1516 : Entered the service of King Francis I of France. 
• 1519 : Death in Amboise, Kingdom of France. 

 

Great works

• He produced hundreds of drawings and thousands of words on anatomy.
• Le proporzioni del corpo umano secondo Vitruvio (The proportions of the human body according to Vitruvius).

 

Significance in history

• Famous polymath who contributed to the fields of: invention, drawing, painting, sculpting, architecture, science, music, mathematics, engineering, literature, anatomy, geology, astronomy, botany, writing, history, and cartography. He is often cited as the prime exemplar of the universal genius.
• One of the most celebrated artists and anatomists in recorded history.
• His observations included atherosclerosis and liver cirrhosis.

 

Errors

• He failed to complete the path of successsful scientific investigation: work, finish, publish. His works were voluminous, but mostly unfinished. He was insular, and neglected to cooperate with the larger scientific community.  At his time of death, most of his works were incomplete, unpublished, and hard to decipher. Eventually they were lost. Upon rediscovery, centuries later, it was clear that his work had contained a wealth of information and accurate insights, which had been eventually made by other researchers. 

 

Quotes 

"The noblest pleasure is the joy of understanding.”

"Medicine is the restoration of discordant elements; sickness is the discord of the elements infused into the living body."

"Human subtlety will never devise an invention more beautiful, more simple or more direct than does nature because in her inventions nothing is lacking."

"The human foot is a masterpiece of engineering and a work of art."